Dedication

To those that have stayed with me through both the Streaks of Purple Saga and the Spectrum Force series, thank you! See? I told you there were more books to come! I've decided to go back to editing the Power Ranger Fanfiction I wrote back in the day to book format and The Terran Rangers are kind of my own take on Power Rangers Zeo. I hope you all continue to stick with me through this series. Again, thank you to all the readers and the people that have supported me over this project through the years! Luvs to you all!

Author's Note

I know what you're thinking. "Oh no, Heather wrote another

fanfic to song lyrics!"

Well, fooled ya! This is a Terran Rangers fanfiction with guest appearances of characters from Marvel Comics, and it had nothing to do with Cyndie Lauper's song. I bet you can guess who the Marvel characters are. This fanfiction also includes heavy references to other fics I've written. In order to understand this story, I suggest you read the following stories (if for some odd reason you've been living under a rock, and haven't read them already)

:

*"Manipulation"

*"Flash Forward"

*"Mutations"

Enjoy the story!

Prologue

February 7, 2009

It had been over two years since the fateful day when the Temporal Comet flew past Earth, bringing the infamous Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd with it. The re-surfacing of these villains forced the long-retired Terran Power Rangers to retake their awesome powers and Zords to confront the invading monsters. After but one battle, Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa left again, and did not return. But, there was always the possibility that they may. Or perhaps another malevolent alien race may attempt to conquer Earth.

After the Power Rangers saved three world-famous NASA astronauts, they announced to the whole world that they would remain active superheroes, and would try to protect the Earth from any blight, whether it be war, pestilence, famine, or invasion. They quickly became international heroes, appearing at numerous peace talks, at celebrity gatherings to raise money for the poor and underprivileged, dealing with various terrorists, diffusing numerous hostage situations, and even going on worldwide patrol in their amazing Terrazords, to insure the public that someone was looking out for them.

Of course, the identities of these six heroes is still a mystery. The only way for the Power Rangers to be contacted was from the United Nations building in New York City, where a highly advanced computer system is kept, which can contact the heroes via their communicators.

Since the time the Power Rangers resurfaced, the lives of a select group of men and women, and also their respective families, had gotten incredibly complicated. After their last battle against evil, they decided to remain heroes and do what they could to keep the peace.

Trini Kwan and William Mitchell were married only months after the incident, and presently Trini was pregnant with their first child.

Zachary Taylor retired from his Olympic career, because it took too much of his time and energy. Now, he was a sports newscaster, who occasionally made celebrity appearances. He now lived in Los Angeles, a mere hour's drive from Angel Grove, the city that changed his life more than any other.

Adam Park was still a major action star, but he had eased up on his schedule. Instead of making three movies a year, which he used to do, he now starred in only one a year, on average. Also, he was engaged to be married to his longtime love Tanya Sloan, who only recently returned to the United States after living in Nairobi.

Jason Lee, now the father of a two year old daughter Brittany, was the captain of the Angel Grove Police Force.

Kimberly Hart-Monroe, the world-famous fashion designer, was the one charged with communicating with the UN, since she lived in New York City. Kimberly's life took a drastic turn when two years ago, her husband Trevor Monroe disappeared without a trace. She hadn't heard from him since.

Thomas Oliver was still a Native American Studies professor at Princeton University in New Jersey, but due to his secret Power Ranger business, he had little time for anything else. His fiance Vanessa Stevens left him because he was spending far too much time with his old friends, and repeatedly left during their dates without a good reason. When Vanessa left Thomas, he realized that he didn't truly love her. Eventually, he fell in love again, this time with his high school friend and now bride-to-be Katherine Hillard.

Katherine decided to move back to the States from Australia, and took a job as an Astrophysics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and she also guest-lectured throughout the country. She spent a lot of time with Kimberly and Thomas since they all lived in the general area, especially once Kim's husband disappeared. Katherine's attraction towards Thomas resurfaced after over a decade of denying it, and this time Thomas felt the same way about her. So Thomas proposed to her four months ago. Now, the couple was in New York to visit an old friend and pick up some necessities for their wedding, which will take place on February 14 in Angel Grove, California.

Chapter One

Katherine Hillard was sitting patiently in the luxurious 80th floor office of the CEO of the Hart Fashion Industry, which specialized in men's and women's evening wear. Katherine felt uncomfortable sitting on the plush chair in the spacious room. Even though Kimberly had been her close friend for over a decade, she had always felt a little jealous of Kim, mostly due to Kat's own loneliness. Now, one week before her wedding, she began to wonder if the tables had turned. For the past two years, Kimberly had been suffering horribly at the disappearance of her husband, Trevor Monroe. Even though Kim didn't show her pain, her friends could still tell how lonely she was. Meanwhile, Katherine had finally won the heart of the man she had loved dearly for over a decade, who just happened to be Kimberly's first true love. Now, Kat felt especially uncomfortable with Kim, even though Kimberly had taken the news quite well.

"Okay, Kat," said Kimberly, pushing through the door with a huge box in her arms, "here's my wedding present! I hope you like it!"

Kat smiled at Kimberly's enthusiasm. Even though Kimberly was just over thirty, she still had the energy and spirit of a teenager. Kat knelt on the floor and opened the box. She shrieked when she saw the magnificent wedding gown Kimberly had given her.

"My goodness, Kim!" she sighed, holding up the dress and looking into Kimberly's wall-sized mirror. "It's the most exquisite dress I've ever seen! You shouldn't have!"

"Why not, Kat," said Kim, shrugging. "After all you and Tommy have done for me the past two years, it's nothing. I hope you have a happy and long life together. Now quick, try it on!"

Katherine grinned at her friend, and carried the dress to the adjacent bathroom. In a few minutes, she stepped out, her blue business suit replaced by the pearly white French silk gown. It was sleeveless, with a low back that clung to Kat's body. It was silk with delicate lace embroidery, with shimmering blue sapphires scattered in intricate patterns throughout the lace. At the hips, the gown spread loosely, with layers of delicate silk down to the ground. At her hips was a row of pink silken roses, connecting the flowing skirt to the rest of the gown. Snowy white opera gloves with pink roses at the trim complemented the gown perfectly. The gown fit Katherine like a glove, and Kat stared at herself in the mirror, absolutely taken aback by the beauty of the gown.

"You look spectacular, Kat," said Kim quietly, taking pride in her latest creation. Kimberly could design any kind of outfit imaginable, and could make anyone look good.

"Kim, this is way more elegant than the gown you designed for Trini last year."

"Yeah, well Trini is very reserved, and they wanted to keep the wedding simple. You, on the other hand, like to make a scene, so I thought this was more your style. Anyway," said Kimberly, walking to her wall and taking a French painting off, revealing a safe, "I have another gift for you."

"You can't be serious!" cried Kat, walking to Kimberly. "You designed my gown, the bridesmaids' dresses, and even Tom's tuxedo, and you probably won't take a penny for them --"

"I don't want your money, Katherine," said Kim, working on the lock.

Kim pulled out a modest wooden jewelry box. She opened it to reveal a beautiful gold necklace with a large diamond at the bottom and smaller sapphires on the whole chain. There was also a pair of matching earrings, and a glittering tiara with a rather large diamond on the top.

"NO WAY!!"

cried Kat.

"You know how they say 'something borrowed...something blue'

, right?"

"Yeah."

"So this is 'something borrowed'

and 'something blue'

at the same time! Seriously, Kat, I'd really like you to wear these jewels when you walk down that aisle. I had them in mind when I designed your dress. They'll match perfectly!"

Kat peered into the box and took a closer look at the gems. Her jaw dropped.

"Kim, that's the jewelry you wore at your wedding!" she gasped.

"Yes," said Kim wistfully, turning away from Kat's gaze to look at the view of 5th Avenue from her window. Kat sighed and gently took the box from Kimberly. She placed it on Kim's desk and gave her friend a warm hug.

"I'd be honored to wear the gems at my wedding," said Kat quietly, "and I really appreciate all you've done for me. Frankly, I didn't think you'd be happy for us --"

"What do you mean?" asked Kimberly, pulling out of Kat's embrace and staring her friend in the eye. Katherine fidgeted under the piercing stare of Kimberly's doe brown eyes.

"Well," said Kat uncomfortably, "you and Tom were an...item

for years, and I know you still have, well, feelings for him..."

"Kat, don't be ridiculous! Tommy and I are friends! You know we were friends before we became an 'item' anyway. I don't live in the past."

"If you don't live in the past," said Kat, her voice growing colder, "why do you still call him 'Tommy'

? After all, no one else has called him that since high school! Admit it, you look into his hazel eyes and you see the young man you fell in love with fifteen years ago!"

Kimberly looked at Kat for a minute, her expression of hurt cutting deeper into Kat than any words ever could. Kat turned away and picked up the box which previously carried the wedding gown.

"I'd, uh, better get changed," said Kat, hurrying into the bathroom once again. Kimberly let out a sigh and sat at her huge desk. She swiveled her chair around, to look out the wall-sized window and stared blankly at New York City.

She's right,

Kim thought to herself, I do still love Tommy, er Tom. I think I always will. I hated myself for dumping him the way I did, but things just didn't work out between us. I am in love with Trevor, but I can't deny that Tommy will always have a special place in my heart.

Kim sighed again and leaned back into her chair. A beep from her phone brought her out of her reverie. She put the on the speakerphone.

"What is it, Mae?" Kim asked her secretary.

^A Mister...Thomas Oliver is here to see you, Ms Hart. Shall I send him up?^

"Uh, yes, Mae, thanks," said Kim, standing up. She walked over to the other side of her office, where the mirror wall was, and immediately started fixing up her eye make-up. She looked like she was crying, and the last thing she wanted was for super-sensitive Tommy to pick up on her sadness. She had just finished when there was a knock at the double mahogany doors.

"Come in," she called, taking her seat once again. A handsome man with short, dark brown hair, soulful hazel eyes, and a charming smile walked into the room. He was wearing black khakis, white dress shirt, and a deep green blazer.

"Are you two ladies ready for dinner?" he asked with a smile. He then looked around the room. "Uh, where's Katherine?"

"Right here, Luv," called Kat, stepping out of the bathroom and running to give her fiance a kiss. She had changed back into her blue suit. Kimberly looked away as the two kissed, staring at the jewelry box with her wedding gems inside. When the couple parted, she shut the box and rose to her feet to greet the former love of her life.

"Everything's set here," she said, giving Tom a quick hug, "but we still have to stop by at the house and pick up Anthony."

Kat went back into the bathroom and brought out the box with the wedding gown.

"You have to see this gown, Luv," she said placing the box on the carpet. "It's an absolute dream! Kimberly really has outdone herself."

"Wait!" Kim objected. "The groom isn't supposed to see the dress until the wedding. That way, he'll be totally taken aback when he sees you walk down the aisle!"

"How about my tux, then?" asked Tom. "When do I get to see it?"

"Oh, we can see it now if you like, but the same rules apply. Kat, you'll have to stay here when I show Tommy the tux."

"No problem," she said with a sweet smile, making herself comfortable on Kim's couch again. Kimberly took Tom's arm and lead him down the hall. Tom had to laugh.

"What's so funny?" asked Kim, letting go of his arm.

"You still love to drag me around by the arm, don't you?" he asked with a smile.

"Well, how else am I gonna get you to follow me?" Kim asked, looking up at his eyes. She quickly turned away and continued into her personal designing room -- which was a mess, with fabric, photographs, colored pencils, sewing materials, and fashion books littering the floor. In the back of the room was a tall male mannequin standing on a podium, wearing a beautiful white tuxedo, complete with dress shirt, vest, and shoes. The buttons on the jacket as well as the cufflinks were white diamonds, and the bow tie was the only non white part of the ensemble, contrasting the pure white with the blackest of black silk. There was also a delicate red rose in the pocket of the jacket, but it was an unearthly blossom, perfect and thorn-less, emitting a subtle reddish gold aura.

"Wow," said Tom, looking at the tuxedo. "Impressive job, Kim. I don't think I've never seen a suit quite like it before! I think I've seen that rose before, though. It's extraordinary..."

"Actually, it is," said Kimberly, pulling out the rose from the jacket pocket and placing it in Tom's hand. "Remember when we were both running for presidency in high school, and Rita cast a spell on us, making us super-competitive?"

"Yeah, I remember," said Tom, looking down at the rose.

"Well, the only way to break the spell of hate is with the magic of love, symbolized by the red rose. Zordon gave each of us a magical bouquet of red roses to break the spell on us. I...I kept them."

"Kim, that was ages ago!" said Tom, astounded by Kim's sentimentality.

"I know, but they weren't just any old bunch of flowers. They were, and still are, perfect. No thorns, pure red petals, soft as silk, never wilting, always alive and beautiful. Like true love. They'll probably last forever, just like true love. And I noticed the aura they emit kinda gives one a warm feeling inside, like a summer's day, or the sound of sweet music, or even a warm embrace. I felt it...fitting

to give it back to you, since you gave it to me. That's my wedding present. Now, be good to Kat forever, and cherish her, because true love is special and should last forever. I really want you two to be happy."

Tom's eyes misted over, and he smiled at Kimberly.

"Thanks Kim," he said quietly, "I will."

He gave Kim a warm, friendly hug and placed the rose carefully back into the pocket of the white tuxedo. He eyes then widened, and he slapped his forehead.

"Oh, I forgot!" he moaned, digging into his inner coat pocket. Kimberly giggled to herself. Tommy certainly hasn't changed much, she thought, watching him desperately search for something. He still is so forgetful, it's a surprise he remembers his own name!

"Here we go!" he exclaimed, taking a small package from his pocket. It was wrapped in pink and white wrapping paper, with a gold bow. "Well, I'd like to say first that I'm sorry we're getting married on your birthday, but February 14th is Valentine's Day, the most romantic day of the year, and Kat insisted. I wanted you to know that I by no means forgot your birthday, but I figured I'd give you your present a little early. Happy Birthday, Beautiful!"

Kimberly shuddered slightly at Tom's use of his old pet-name for her, back when they were in love. Nonetheless, she accepted the package, and opened it to reveal a gold lightning bolt shaped locket, hanging from a delicate gold chain. She opened the locket, revealing two small photographs, one of Trevor, and one of her young son Anthony.

Tom looked down at Kimberly and noticed a single tear streak down her cheek.

"Wanna talk about it?" he asked her gently.

Kimberly quickly composed herself, and put on the necklace.

"Thanks Tommy," she said quietly, smiling up at him. "It's perfect."

She started packing the tuxedo carefully into a cardboard box that was sitting on the floor. She gently placed the rose on top of the neatly folded tuxedo and taped the box shut. She lifted the box and handed it to Tom.

"We'd better get going," she said suddenly, "Katherine is probably wondering where we are."

Tom and Kimberly hurried down the hall, and found Katherine waiting patiently outside Kim's office, standing beside the box with the gown and the smaller jewelry box on top of it. The smile on her face fell as she saw that both Tom's and Kimberly's eyes were slightly red.

"What's wrong?" she asked, worry written all over her face.

"Kimberly just gave me a special wedding present and some good advice about love," he said quietly, taking Katherine's hand with his free one. "Now, shouldn't we get going? The four of us have dinner reservations at six."

Kimberly picked up the jewelry box and Kat lifted the box with the gown in it, and the trio made their way to the elevator.

Chapter Two

The year was 1997, and as the sun slowly rose over the horizon, its gentle rays peeked into the open window of the top floor apartment of a rather tall New York City skyscraper. Inside this room, which was supposed to be abandoned, slept a young man. But, this was no ordinary young man. In fact, he was a mutant, gifted with the awesome abilities of telepathy and telekinesis. Also, he wasn't even from the world he now lived in. He actually was born, or rather created, in an alternate reality.

About two months ago, Nate Grey lived with his friends the Outcasts, and traveled across what was once the United States of America, helping to alleviate the suffering of those oppressed by Apocalypse, the self-proclaimed ruler of that world. One day, though, everything changed. Two young teenagers from an alternate dimension appeared, and first introduced Nate to the possibility of other universes. Together, he, the two teenagers named Zack Taylor and Kimberly Hart, and his allies Magneto, Forge, and the Shadow, attacked Apocalypse's citadel, intending on reuniting the M'Kraan Crystal, the nexus of reality, with its long-missing fragment, dubbed the Zeo Crystal. During that escapade, Forge, the only father and protector Nate ever knew, was killed by the creature Holocaust.

This drew Nate into a frenzy, and he telekinetically thrust the Zeo Crystal, which lay on the ground, into Holocaust's armor. This act had unexpected, and unusual affects. The energy released from the crystal threw Nate, Shadow, and Holocaust into the Mutliverse, where they eventually ended up in an alternate reality, the same one Kimberly and Zack came from. Nate himself appeared somewhere in Switzerland, where he recovered from his injuries sustained by interdimensional transport, and basically created a new life for himself. His wanderings came to an end when he came to New York. He encountered many mutants that were called the X-Men, but they were far too different from the X-Men of the Age of Apocalypse for Nate to relate to them.

Nate distanced himself from everything and everyone that was familiar to him in his home dimension, and this included Shadow, Zack, and Kimberly. After a few weeks of searching for his best friend, Nate came to the conclusion that he may not have survived the transport. Either that, or he didn't want to be found. And he didn't want to interfere with the lives of the X-Rangers. However, Nate didn't know he didn't have a choice in the matter.

Suddenly, Nate felt a strange tingle, that he was vaguely familiar with. It was Mutliversal transportation.

"What?" he said, sitting up in his bed. He saw the room he was in suddenly bend, and fade into nothingness. He soon found himself lying upon a floor of solid white marble tiles. He rose to his feet, and realized he'd been in this room once before.

"Otherworld?" he muttered to himself.

"Indeed," said a gentle voice. Nate turned around, and saw a woman clad in flowing white robes, with an ebony ponytail, olive skin, and dark, mysterious almond eyes.

"Roma," he said, "why am I here?"

"As you recall, a few months ago, I requested your aid, to help the Power Rangers save the universe."

"Yeah," he said. "So?"

"So, I ask you again for your aid. The Power Rangers will be facing an enemy, one that they will never be able to defeat alone. Tell me, Nathan, do you recall a being called Onslaught?"

Nate's crystal blue eyes widened in shock, and his jaw dropped. "That monster is dead!"

"No," said Roma, "he is not dead. He has returned, and he now has the potential to be an even greater threat than he was before. He must be stopped now, before he can increase in power."

"Tell me what I need to do."

Chapter Three

A red Jeep Cherokee parked in front of the magnificent home of the Monroe family, called the Angel's Palace. Of course, it wasn't a literal palace, but the half-mile of property had a regal air about it. The immense lawn was perfectly kept, even in the wintertime, with numerous bushes, evergreens, and winter flowers decorating the area. On the side of the mansion was a quaint greenhouse, where Kimberly kept her garden. There was also an outdoor pool, tennis court, and numerous pieces of playground equipment for Anthony and his friends. Kimberly, Thomas, and Katherine exited the car and made their way to the front doors. Kimberly knocked once, and a short middle aged Mexican woman opened the door.

"Senora!" said the woman. "Welcome home!"

She held the door for the trio, who all entered the mansion. Kimberly's head jerked just in time to see a flash of green jump on her and give her a big hug.

"Mommy!" he cried, "you're home!"

"Yes, Pumpkin," she said, returning his hug. She then put him down and ruffled his sandy blonde hair. "So, did you have fun today?"

"Yeah, but I missed ya," the little boy cooed, holding onto his mother's leg. "You're not supposed to work on Saturday! Saturday is our special day!"

"I know Baby, but I had to do a favor for Uncle Tommy and Aunt Kat. Did you say hi to them?"

Anthony immediately ran to his surrogate uncle and aunt, giving them both warm hugs. Kimberly turned to her maid.

"Anita, why isn't he dressed yet? I asked you to have him ready to leave."

"I'm sorry, Senora, but Antonio refused to wear his suit. Only you can get him to wear it."

"C'mere, Tony," said Kimberly, taking her son's hand. "We've got to get ready for dinner."

Kimberly led Anthony to his room and helped him put on his suit. She then proceeded to her own bedroom, and brushed out her hair. She saw a reflection of golden light in her mirror, coming from the crack of her open closet.

"What's that?" she asked out loud, opening the closet. She found the source of the eerie gold light -- her yellow Zeo shard, which granted her the Terra power of lightning. She picked up the shard from its place in the back of her shoe closet, and examined it in her hand.

"I don't understand," she said, staring at the small yellow crystal. "It's never glowed like this before!"

Kimberly hid the crystal in her palm and ran down the stairs. She found Tom and Katherine talking to Anita.

"Anita," she ordered, "fetch me Anthony's dress shoes please. I can't seem to find them."

"Si, Senora" said Anita, hurrying up the stairs.

"What's wrong, Kim?" asked Katherine.

"This!"

she cried, opening her palm to reveal the Zeo shard. Both Tom and Kat stared at the strange gold beams of light coming from the yellow shard, befuddled.

"Has this ever happened before?" asked Tom, taking the shard and examining it more closely.

"No. The shard doesn't even glow usually -- unless its power is called upon."

Suddenly, the crystal jumped from Tom's hand to the ground. It touched the floor and emitted a single, wide beam of gold light to the high ceiling above. The three friends stood back and watched as a disk of gold light formed on the ceiling, and jumped in amazement when a young man wearing a blue and silver uniform fell to the ground from the hole. He moaned in pain and held out his hand. Immediately, the Zeo shard leaped into his hand, no longer glowing. The young man stood up and ran his other hand through his brown hair, streaked with white. His crystal blue eyes stared first at Tom, and then Kat. His left eye seemed to glow yellow when his gaze fell on Kimberly, who stared at this strange boy who just appeared in her house. He walked towards Kimberly, but she shrunk back from him. Tom stepped in front of the stranger menacingly.

"Who are you, and what do you want here?" he demanded, folding his arms over his chest.

The boy glared up at Tom, letting his left eye once again glow yellow. But Tom didn't flinch.

"Who are you, and what do you want here?" he repeated. The boy's frown disappeared, and he cracked an amused smile.

"I like him," he said to Kimberly. "He's got courage, even though he doesn't have his Zeo shard with him."

The three adults gaped at this remark. The boy just smirked and held out his hand to Kimberly, offering her the yellow Zeo shard.

"Here," he said. "It won't glow gold again. It only does that when psionic energy is focused through it, Kim."

"Do I know you?" asked Kimberly, taking her shard back.

"Not really, but I know you. At least, I've met you. Another you."

"What?!" asked the three adults in unison.

"I'm the X-Man, but my friends call me Nate. Nate Grey. I come from an alternate universe. A couple months ago, my time, I met a girl named Kimberly Hart and her friend Zack Taylor. They helped me and my allies battle an evil monster from my world. We had to retrieve the Zeo Crystal from the moon, to complete the M'Kraan Crystal, and fix reality, but they couldn't access their Terra powers. So, Kim and Zack's power signatures were altered, when someone created a weird kind of bond between us. Kimberly became a telepath, and her powers were basically a carbon copy of my own. Somehow, by gaining power through me, that created a link between us, and that's basically what caused the disappearance of your husband."

Kimberly sank to her knees when she heard that. Tom was frozen in shock, and Katherine stood dumfounded. Nate sighed to himself. This was going to take a while.

Nate helped Kim to her feet, and led her to the couch to sit. He then gave Tom and Kat a telekinetic nudge, causing them to also be seated. Nate himself sat on the loveseat across from the other three.

"I...I don't understand," choked Kimberly. "Why would your giving an alternate reality's version of me telepathic power affect me...and Trevor?"

"I guess I should start from the beginning. I was born in a horrible world ruled by the tyrant Apocalypse. While I was there, Kimberly and Zack fell through an inter-dimensional anomaly. Their Terra Powers were blocked because there already was a Zeo Crystal in that dimension, and there can only be one of each Terran Ranger. So, in order to send them home, and repair the damage done to the Multiverse, Kim and Zack traveled to the moon to find the Zeo Crystal. An all-powerful being named Roma created an energy link between us, so as to create new powers for Kim and Zack, so they could morph and help in the final battle. Magneto gave Zack the power of magnetism, and I gave Kim the powers of telepathy and telekinesis. Since telepathy is such a delicate power, Kimberly's power kind of bonded with my own, creating a psionic link called a rapport."

"That still doesn't explain what that has to do with this Kimberly and her husband," said Katherine quietly.

"I'm getting to that. So, during the final fight, the three of us and another friend of mine were sent through the Multiverse by way of the M'Kraan Crystal, the nexus of all reality. We all were teleported away from my home universe, and we were separated. I made a life for myself in New York City, and Kim and Zack returned to Angel Grove with their new powers. While I was in New York, I met up with another team of mutant heroes called the X-Men. But, they weren't the same X-Men I knew from back home. Ever heard of them?"

"They're in the news from time to time," said Tom.

"Right. So, I got involved in this major battle with Onslaught, a monster with unsurpassed psionic abilities. When he was destroyed, his psionic power was released into the Astral Plane. The Astral Plane is constant throughout the Multiverse, so from there Onslaught could go anywhere. The Zeo Crystal, being a fragment of the M'Kraan Crystal, can easily be used as a doorway through the Multiverse, and since the yellow Zeo shard was attuned to psionic energy, it was the perfect escape route for Onslaught. I think Trevor was either touching the Zeo shard or was too close to it, so that the outburst of energy enveloped him."

"You're telling me he's...he's..." Kimberly's words stuck in her throat as she let the tears fall freely from her eyes.

"Let me finish, Kim," said Nate, standing up. "He's not dead."

"Then, what happened to him?" asked Tom.

"The psionic energies pulled him into a temporal hole, like the one I came here through. But that hole wasn't focused, so Trevor fell aimlessly into the Multiverse. He should have died, because no unprotected human can travel safely through the Multiverse, but his body bonded with the psionic energies of Onslaught, creating a new super-villain -- Solar."

"Solar!" said Tom, leaping to his feet. "That's impossible

! We battled Solar ages ago, back when I was the White Ranger! He was the one that created those teleportation holes, kidnapping me, Adam, two Sailor Scouts, and two Spectrum Enforcers. We destroyed --"

Realization hit Tom immediately, stopping him in mid sentence. He looked down at Kimberly, who stared up at him in horror.

"He... he had sandy blonde hair and... and aqua eyes, just like Trevor," he said quietly, sinking into his seat, "I... I didn't realize the resemblance before now. He... he must have traveled back in time to destroy us all as teenagers, but he underestimated us." He turned to Kimberly, clutching her trembling hands in his. "Oh, God, Kim... I'm so sorry..."

Nate telekinetically lifted the couch off the carpet, trying to get the attention of the three sobbing Rangers. When they stared down at him in surprise, he lowered them to the ground and let out a huge sigh.

"Didn't you hear what I just said? He's not dead. You and the other five heroes managed to overload his telekinetic powers, but you didn't kill him. Almost a year passed since then before he returned, planning to get his revenge."

"But, I don't remember fighting him again!" said Tom.

"The second battle happened after the critical point."

"The what ?" asked Katherine.

"The critical point! It's kinda like a fork in the road, but in the timestream. You see, the timeline I live in now is much like yours. In fact, it is the exact same as yours, up to the point of December, 1996. In your time, Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa left, and didn't return for ten years. You defeated them, and they left for good. What happened is that they traveled ten years into the future, hoping the Terran Rangers would be out of commission. You guys came out of retirement and defeated them. Zedd and Rita decided to go back to the time they left and continue invading Earth. By altering the timestream, they created a critical point, where two timelines diverge. In the alternate timeline, Zedd and Rita never left in 1996, and so the Terran Rangers never disbanded. That makes drastic changes to your lives. For example: Kimberly, you never went back to Florida. Therefore, although you met Trevor Monroe, you never fell in love with him. That timeline is where Solar exists now. He was severely injured by the Mars Fireball that caused his energies to backlash, and he's been recharging himself for the past year. He's preparing to destroy the Power Rangers, and since they don't know who he is, they'll use lethal force. Either they'll kill Trevor, or Trevor will kill them."

"How do you know so much?" askd Tom skeptically.

"Well, this may be hard for the three of you to swallow, but I was sent here by Roma, the Guardian of the Multiverse. She regulates the interdimensional travel, because it can damage the entire Multiverse. She realized how dangerous Onslaught is, and so she asked me to come here, get you, and stop him. Roma herself has taken a vow not to directly interfere, so she couldn't do it herself, although she is certainly able to. She guided me here."

"What do you need us for?" asked Tom.

"I don't know if I can stop Solar," said Nate, also standing up. "If he's as powerful as Onslaught, he could destroy the Multiverse! Also, my traveling through the timestream severely weakens me. I won't be anywhere near full strength when we get there."

"Okay," said Tom, pulling up his jacket sleeve to reveal his communicator, "Kat and I will teleport to our homes and get our Zeo shards. Kim, contact Jason, Zack, and Adam and tell them to 'port here ASAP. We should be ready to leave in a few minutes."

"No," said Nate, "I don't have enough energy to transport us all. I can barely manage one passenger. Navigating the Multiverse is serious business. Also, there can only be one of each Zeo crystal shard in one dimension at a time. The Kimberly in my dimension is no longer reliant on the power of Lightning, so this Kimberly will be able to morph into the Yellow Terran Ranger."

"No way!" objected Tom, "I'm the leader of the Power Rangers! I take the risks. Kim has never fought Solar before, I have. I know what kind of power he has, and what his limits are. Besides, Trevor and I had become pretty good friends, before he disappeared."

"You may be friends, Tommy," said Nate sternly. "But there is no strong bond of emotion between you. It's more like a mutual acceptance than a friendship, and it's for Kimberly's sake. You both love Kimberly on some level, and so you both decided to accept each other. You had to accept Trevor as Kimberly's husband, and he had to accept you as Kimberly's friend and former love. He may feel nothing but jealousy if he sees you, especially if he recognizes your younger self with the younger Kimberly. I think the teenaged Red Terran Ranger will be his first target. Kimberly is the only one who may be able to reach him."

Katherine stood up and rested her head on her fiance's shoulder. She could feel him tremble under her touch.

"Nate," she asked, "will Kimberly traveling back through time cause another critical point? Will it affect our reality?"

"Your reality has already diverged with the alternate dimension. However, Kimberly's appearance may affect the parallel reality's future, causing a critical point there. The best thing to do is keep Kimberly's identity secret from as many people as possible. We should also refrain from telling them too much about the future."

"What happened in the other reality's future?" asked Tom.

"I don't know, I've never been there. Now, Kimberly, are you ready to go?"

"Should I morph?" she asked, holding her yellow Zeo shard.

"It may give you away. The best thing for you to do is pass through in a disguise. Kimberly, take my hand."

Kimberly reached out and touched Nate's hand. Nate transmitted telekinetic energy through Kimberly, transforming her outfit into a yellow version of his blue-and-silver armor. Her yellow Zeo shard was reabsorbed into her heart, and she wore a yellow mask on her face with a visor over her eyes.

"Ready?" he asked politely.

"Just about," she answered, turning to Tom and Katherine. "Guys, do me a favor and watch Tony 'till I come back? Tell him I had a sudden business trip or something. If I don't get back..."

"Kimberly, don't say that," interrupted Katherine, hugging Kimberly. "You'll be fine. Just hurry! I'd love to see you and Trevor at my wedding."

Kim turned to Tom, who was trying to hide his fear. Kim could see it in his eyes, though.

"Take care, Kim," he whispered, giving her a hug.

"I will," she answered, turning back to Nate, who was creating another portal. Nate reached out and took Kim's hand.

"Time to go!" he called. "Bye guys, I'll take good care of the Yellow Ranger!"

With that, Nate and Kim disappeared in a flash of golden light.

Chapter Four

In an interdimensional pocket in the Multiverse, a shimmering onyx castle floated proudly in the middle of the vast emptiness. The castle was an exact replica of the mythical palace in Otherworld, home of the guardian of the Multiverse, Roma. This castle was the sanctuary for the being called Solar, which was the body of the human Trevor Monroe controlled by the ambitions and memory of the tyrant Onslaught.

Nearly a year ago, Solar made his first appearance, trying to conquer the Multiverse by destroying the defenders of three of the Multiverse's most powerful timestreams, the Power Rangers, the Spectrum Force, and the Sailor Scouts. These three universes have one thing in common -- magic

.

Onslaught had faced both technology and mutant powers, but magic was unfamiliar to him, and was therefore dangerous. So, Solar underestimated the three teams of teenaged heroes, and lost a great deal of energy in the last battle. Now he had recuperated, and had time to think. What Onslaught, the being whose ambitions and memories control of Solar, didn't know was that during his convalescence, the consciousness of the host body, Trevor Monroe, had started to surface. Now, Solar was a true blend of the ambitions and powers of Onslaught and the feelings and concerns of Trevor Monroe.

"It is time," Solar says aloud, standing up from the throne in the middle of the otherwise empty room. He walked to the balcony, staring out at the Multiverse, which looked like a patch of blackness with streaks of colored light, each representing a different universe. Solar created a magical portal, and through it stepped one of Onslaught's most faithful and powerful followers -- Holocaust. Holocaust was truly an intimidating sight -- a blood red skeleton inside a yellow-orange transluscent body armor, making him stand at a height of nearly eight feet. He was super-strong, extremely fast, cunning, and cruel, with a mighty arm cannon with enough fire power to slice through steel like a hot knife through butter.

"You summoned me, Onslaught?" asked Holocaust, the red skull on his shoulders glowing.

"Remember, from now on I am Solar!" hollered Solar angrily, "I am neither Onslaught or Monroe, I am my own being."

"So, what is your plan, and how do I fit into it?" asked Holocaust, starting to get impatient. As far as he was concerned, he was Onslaught's ally, not servant.

"My plan is to conquer Otherworld," said Solar, continuing to gaze out into the sky. He turned around when he heard a stifled chuckle.

"How do you plan do defeat Roma?" asked Holocaust, fighting back laughter. He immediately shut up when he saw Solar's fists glow a vibrant gold.

"All I require is the infinite power of the M'Kraan Crystal."

"You mean the gem that transported me to this universe?" asked Holocaust.

"Precisely. The M'Kraan Crystal is the nexus of reality. Within it is the power of the universe! The only thing is, we must unite the entire M'Kraan Crystal, or else its powers will be quite difficult to control."

"How do you plan on getting the Crystal? I thought it was lost for eternity."

"It is indeed lost, but it can be found. If we recover the missing fragment of the M'Kraan Crystal, we will be able to track down the larger piece. And, I believe I have located the crystal's shard. It is on Earth."

"Really?" asked Holocaust in surprise. "Where?"

"It is in the possession of the Power Rangers. Recently, they have been granted direct access to the shard of the crystal, which they refer to as the Zeo Crystal. If we find the Zeo Crystal in its entirety, we will be able to locate the remainder, and finally oust Roma from her throne. I will begin my attack now."

Solar created another interdimensional portal, and immediately stepped through. Holocaust hesitated for a moment, and then followed Solar through the hole. They both rematerialized in a tacky stone castle on the dark side of Earth's moon. The being sitting on the throne stared at the visitors, glowing an enraged scarlet.

"Who dares enter the palace of Lord Zedd unannounced?" asked Zedd angrily, standing up from his throne and grabbing his "Z"

staff.

"I am Solar, soon to be the absolute ruler of the Multiverse. I will be staying in this dimension for a while, and I am in the need of accommodations. Your castle will have to do."

"Excuse me?" asked Zedd in a rage, pointing his staff at Solar. "No one barges into my castle and orders me around!"

With that, Lord Zedd fired a massive bolt of white lightning at Solar, who absorbed it without even flinching.

"I survived the energy blasts of Cyclops, Storm, and even the mighty Thor's hammer! Do you think your petty static electricity can harm me?!"

"What's all that racket?" came a shrill voice from the hallway, "I have a headache!"

"Rita, get in here!" said Zedd furiously. Rita Repulsa stepped into the throne room. Her eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets when she saw Solar and Holocaust.

"Eww," she croaked. "That one with the skull is even uglier than my brother!"

Holocaust snarled at the witch, powering up his arm cannon. Solar put his hand on Holocaust's shoulder. He then turned to Zedd and Rita with a smirk on his face and a golden glow in his eyes.

"I think I'll send the two of you into the Multiverse, to float about aimlessly for a century or two," he said, creating another portal. Zedd and Rita were helplessly pulled into the hole.

"Now," said Solar, making himself comfortable on Zedd's throne, "it's time to take action."

Chapter Five

At the picturesque beach of Angel Grove, California, ten teenagers enjoyed a competitive match of beach volleyball. Aisha Campbell, Rocky DeSantos, Adam Park, Alexis Darling, and Katherine Hillard play against Jason Lee, Tommy Oliver, Kimberly Hart, Zack Taylor, and Billy Mitchell. The sun shone brilliantly down on the teenagers, who enjoy the surprising warmth of February in Angel Grove.

"Okay," says Alexis, tossing the ball to Adam, "the serve was out of bounds. We have serve, and the score's 7-11."

"We're gonna change that real quick!" said Aisha, giving Adam a thumbs up. Adam backed up, and launched a perfect overhand serve. Zack returned the serve with a quick spike, which was blocked by Aisha. Kimberly set the ball, and Billy swatted a powerful spike across the court. Katherine dove for it, setting a volley for Alexis. Tommy returned the volley, but his hit was blocked by Rocky. Both Zack and Jason ran for the ball, but collided with each other as the ball hit the sand.

"Watch where you're going, Man!" laughed Zack, standing up and brushing the sand off his white Adidas shirt and matching shorts. Jason laughed uncontrollably, still sitting on the sand. When he stands up, a white envelope falls from his shorts pocket. Tommy picked it up and looked at the return address.

"Whoa," he said, looking up at Jason, "Rice University! Jay, you didn't tell us you applied to Rice. Did ya get in?"

Jason stopped laughing abruptly, and lifted his gaze to Tommy with a small smile on his face.

"Yeah," he said quietly.

"That's fantastic, Jase," said Kimberly, giving him a congratulatory hug. "What's wrong?"

"Guys, I've been thinking, about the future. Y'see, most of us are graduating this June, and from there, we may be going on to college. What'll happen to the Power Rangers? I mean, the Zeo shards supposedly can only be wielded by the person destined to be a Terran Power Ranger. Without Zordon here to guide us, we have to make the decision on our own."

"I've given that problem a lot of thought," said Billy. "Originally, we believed that each Zeo shard can only be wielded by one individual. However, Aisha managed to absorb the essence of the green Zeo shard without any apparent side-effects. I've been studying this phenomenon, and although I haven't reached any concrete conclusions, I know for a fact that anyone who ever wielded a Power Coin has sustained sufficient bio-chemical changes to harbor the Terra power."

"That doesn't help too much, Billy," said Katherine, "Jason, Tommy, Rocky, Kimberly, Alexis, and Zack are graduating this year, and the rest of us will be graduating next year. By the end of next year, we all will have gone our separate ways."

"Well, guys, what plans do you have?" asked Tommy.

"I'm going to Drexel University in September," said Rocky quietly. Adam and Aisha turned to him in shock.

"And you didn't tell us?" asked Adam.

"Well, I was going to," Rocky said meekly.

"Where is Drexel anyway?" asked Zack curiously.

"Philadelphia," he said, glancing at Alexis. She smiled at him.

"Drexel's campus is side by side with the University of Pennsylvania," she said, "I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other next year."

"Wanna be roommates?" he asked with a smirk. Alexis rolled her eyes.

"Okay," said Tommy, "I planned on taking a year off before going to college. I wanted to explore my Native American heritage a bit. After all, I still have this arrowhead, and its supposed to lead me to my destiny."

"I enrolled in Angel Grove University," said Zack with a smile. "The Zack-man ain't goin' nowhere!"

"What about you, Kim?" asked Tommy quietly. "Are you going to move to Paris with your mother?"

"Well, I'm staying with my uncle Steve through the summer, until I start attending class at Stone Canyon Fashion Institute. I'll probably live on campus or get an apartment, which means I'll be getting a job come summer."

"And you, Billy?" asked Adam. "You've already graduated! What plans have you made?"

"I've been admitted Early Decision to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but since I am no longer an active member of the Power Rangers, it shouldn't make any difference."

"Billy, you're an essential member of the team," said Aisha. "After all, you're the behind-the-scenes man who makes sure all the weapons and Zords are in working condition. What would we do without you?"

"Good question," said Tommy, concern etched in his voice and expression.

"I plan to remain in contact with you while I'm in school," started Billy, "and I've been tutoring Adam on the workings of the Zords and the other equipment in the CAC ever since he lost his powers. He should be a excellent replacement, and if you still need my help, just contact me."

"Wow, bud, you really thought this through!" said Zack. Billy just shrugged.

"And you're going to Texas, eh bro?" asked Tommy.

"I...I'm not sure. I may go to Notre Dame instead -- they're trying to recruit me for football. Or I may attend a closer school..."

"Jase, don't let being a Power Ranger hold you back," said Tommy, clapping Jason on the back, "After all, sooner or later we all will have to give up the Power. We'll have too many responsibilities to continue being on call 24 hours a day."

The conversation was interrupted by a loud whistle coming from Billy's communicator.

"What's up, Billy?" asked Adam, looking at Billy's wrist.

"That's the remote CAC alarm. Lord Zedd and Rita must be up to something."

"Then you guys better get going," said Rocky quietly.

"Yeah," said Adam, nodding his head, "see ya."

Immediately, Tommy, Jason, Billy, Alexis, Zack, Katherine, Kimberly, and Aisha teleported in streaks of colored light to the CAC, where Billy ran to his personal computer system without delay. He began typing a few buttons, and an image appeared in the Viewing Globe of a red-skulled creature encased in a powerful yellow-gold exo-skeleton.

"What is that?" gasped Alexis. "It doesn't look like one of Zedd's usual monsters."

Alexis turned to Kimberly, who was staring wide-eyed at the globe. She noticed that Zack wore a similar facial expression.

"Kim? Zack? What's wrong?" she asked finally.

"Holocaust," whispered Kim incredulously. "He's here -- in Angel Grove."

"Who's Holocaust?" asked Jason, scratching his head.

"Kim and I fought him in the Age of Apocalypse a couple months ago," said Zack solemnly, "Man, that guy's bad news! I thought he died in an explosion when we attacked Apocalypse's palace! How did he get here, and why?"

"I'll try to figure that out," said Billy, madly typing on his keyboard. "But in the meantime, he's attacking Angel Grove Plaza."

"He's attacking the mall?" asked Aisha in shock. "That's so sick!"

"It's also good strategy," said Tommy. "He's putting hundreds of innocent civilians in danger, and he's not giving them a chance to escape. He's trying to get us out there. So, let's go!"

"Everyone, be extremely careful," said Zack seriously.

"Yeah," said Kim. "His arm cannon packs a punch, and he's super strong."

"Right," said Tommy, "Terran Rangers, its Morphin Time!"

The four Terran Power Rangers stood in a line, and in a fluid single motion, they held their fists out, rose them to the sky, and then swung their arms to their sides.

"TERRA FIRE POWER!"

hollered Tommy.

"TERRA EARTH POWER!!"

yelled Jason.

"TERRA WATER POWER!!"

cried Katherine.

"TERRA WIND POWER!!"

screamed Aisha.

Zack and Kimberly, the X-Rangers, prepared to morph by crossing their arms in front of their chests, causing their hands to glow in their respective colors.

"X-Ranger One!" yelled Zack, immediately being clothed in a shimmery silver uniform with a thick black streak down the middle. His arm bands, collar, belt, and shoulder pads were of a highly-reflectant black metal. His helmet was black and silver, and his boots, which reached his knees, were black with bands of silver.

"X-Ranger Two!" cried Kim, transforming into a gold version of Zack's costume.

Alexis, the only remaining Mighty Morphin Power Ranger, pulled out her morpher and held it out in front of her. "Purple Ranger Power!" she called. In a flash of purple light, she was wearing the form-fitting armor of the Purple Ranger, with a golden shield, white boots and elbow gloves, purple and white helmet, and golden wings attached to the ankles of her thigh-high boots.

The seven Power Rangers teleported to the mall, where Holocaust was using his arm cannon to destroy the elevator cable, sending the elevator flying to the first floor, with passengers crying out in terror. Suddenly, the elevator slowed to a halt, and softly landed on the first floor. Holocaust immediately recognized the barely visible silvery energy that encased the elevator, and smiled. He wasn't at all surprised to see the two X-Rangers float gracefully to the ground.

"So, how do the two of you manage to stop me this time, without any X-Men to back you up?"

"They have us to back them up!" came a shout from the escalator. Holocaust spun around to see the Red, Black, Blue, Purple and Green Rangers descend to the ground floor, immediately falling into battle positions.

"So, you're the Zeo Rangers," said Holocaust, powering up his arm cannon discreetly, "I'm not impressed."

"We're the Terran Rangers, braniac!" yelled Aisha, silently summoning her Wind Shield. "You obviously don't know who you're dealing with!"

"Oh, I know more about you than you may think," said Holocaust, firing a hot ray of plasma at the five heroes. Aisha blocked the brunt of the beam with her shield, but the sheer force of the hit knocked her into the fountain across the mall. Kim and Zack immediately leaped into action, tossing various objects at Holocaust with their powers while the other rangers recovered from the blast.

"Kat!" ordered Tommy, "check on Aisha! Lex, Jason, get ready to rock 'n roll."

"You got it, Bro!" said Jason, standing tall. Tommy beckoned to Kim and Zack, pointing upwards. They immediately caught on, and used their respective powers of telekinesis and magnetism to levitate off the ground. Jason, seeing his cue, pounded his fists to the ground, creating a devastating shock wave, directed at Holocaust. Holocaust was thrown off the ground and crashed into an electronics store.

"Oh boy," said Zack, "I feel sorry for the poor sucker who's gotta pick up that bill!"

"I've got him from here!" said Alexis, the golden wings on her boots flapping. She sailed through the air, her Laser Whip sparking with purple energy. She cracked the whip, wrapping it around Holocaust's waist. She then let the whip release its purple laser energy into his body.

"We have to get him outta the mall," called Kimberly, landing beside Tommy, "before he causes even more damage!"

Suddenly, Kimberly gasped and clutched the area of her chest above her heart. Tommy catches her before she collapsed to the ground.

"Kim?!" he yelled, watching as she started to twitch violently. "She's having a seizure!"

"Get her to the CAC!" yelled Jason, mentally calling the Earth Sword. "We'll take care of Holocaust!"

The Red Ranger nodded, gently lifting the unconscious Gold Ranger into his arms. They both left in a streak of red and gold light.

Chapter Six

In the CAC, Billy prepared the medical unit, where Rocky had healed from his injuries from the explosion of the original Command Center the previous year, and where Adam underwent extensive surgery not long after. Billy turned to see the Red and Gold Rangers materializing in the middle of the CAC.

"Bring her here," ordered Billy, beckoning Tommy. Tommy lay Kimberly gently on the cot and gently removed her helmet. Kimberly's face was contorted in pain.

"What's wrong with her?!" asked Tommy impatiently as Billy ran a scanner over her body. "She just had a seizure in the middle of the fight!"

Billy held the scanner over Kimberly's heart. His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as that area of her costume began glowing vibrant gold. Both Billy and Tommy watched in mute horror as the yellow Zeo crystal shard passed through Kimberly's body from her heart. It floated to the ground, and Kim's uniform immediately disappeared, leaving the still unconscious girl clad in her mid drift and shorts she was wearing earlier. The boys followed the shard with their eyes, and stepped back in shock when a beam of golden light shot from the crystal to the ceiling of the CAC, forming a portal. Two people, a woman in a yellow and silver uniform, and a young man in an identical blue and silver uniform, fell from the hole. The woman's hair and face were covered in a mask, with a visor covering her eyes. The young man's face and hair were both visible.

White hair?!

thought Tommy, still in shock. What the heck just happened?!

The two visitors stood up and brushed off their spacesuit-type uniforms. The woman picked up the yellow Zeo shard and gazed at it with interest. The young man with the brown and white hair took the crystal from the woman and started to walk towards the medical unit. The Red Ranger stood menacingly in his path.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" he asked threateningly, folding his arms across his chest.

"Not again!" moaned the young man, rolling his eyes. The woman in yellow merely smiled. The Red Ranger didn't move from his position.

"Who are you, and what do you want here?" he repeated.

"Amazing," said the young man. "Not much as changed in twelve years! You are really protective of her, Tommy."

The Red Ranger removed his helmet, and stared at him in surprise. Meanwhile, Billy discreetly scanned the two strangers.

The man is a mutant,

he thought, and the woman has...the yellow Zeo shard

?! Is it possible...?

"I'm Nate Grey, the X-Man," said the young man politely, "and Kim is an old friend of mine. Now, if you'll let me, I'll restore her Zeo shard and wake her up."

Tommy slowly stepped aside, and watched as Nate stood at Kim's bedside. His eyes glowed with telekinetic energy, and the yellow shard floated above Kimberly. In a flash of yellow light, the Zeo shard vanished, and Kimberly's eyes fluttered open.

"Oooh," she moaned, her hand absently covering her heart, "what happened?"

Her eyes focused, and locked with the gaze of a familiar pair of crystal blue eyes. She bolted into a sitting position, her eyes wide with surprise and recognition.

"Nate!" she cried, hugging him tightly. "Oh my gosh, you're alive!! I thought you died in the Age of Apocalypse!! What's going on?" Nate's smile fell instantly.

"Kim, I have some pretty bad news," he started, "and it's gonna take me forever to tell you the whole story --"

Instantly, five beams of colored light appeared in the center of the CAC. The arriving Rangers removed their helmets, not noticing that they had guests.

"Holocaust split!" said Zack angrily. "Just like that! I wonder what he's up to --"

Zack stopped in mid sentence as he saw a familiar man with white and brown hair.

"Nate!" he yelled, running up to him and shaking his hand vigorously, "I should have known you survived that explosion! What's up with Holocaust? And where've you been, anyway?"

Nate related the story about him, Solar, and Trevor Monroe. However, in order to preserve the future, he didn't mention that his travel companion was in fact Kimberly. He introduced Kim as "Annie"

, which was from Kim's middle name Anne.

The elder Kim leaned silently against a console, looking at the teenagers and smiling. She kept talking to a minimum, so the young rangers wouldn't recognize her voice. They're so young,

she mused, so innocent.

She noticed how closely her younger self stood to Tommy. I guess in this timestream, I didn't dump Tommy for Trevor. I wonder how things would have turned out if I didn't send Tommy that letter...

"Trevor Monroe?"

said the young Kimberly with a gasp, "I know him! He works at the gym I trained at in Florida. He's a nice guy, definitely not capable of being Solar."

"Trevor isn't evil," said the elder Kim, jumping into the conversation. "The creature called Onslaught has taken over my husband's body! We have to find a way to destroy Onslaught while not harming Trevor. Once Onslaught is disembodied, we can find a way to destroy him!"

"One thing doesn't quite hold water," said Zack. "How are you able to time travel? When we met in the Age of Apocalypse, you didn't have any kind of Multiversal transit abilities, or you would've sent us home from the start."

"You're right. You see, the M'Kraan Crystal transported me away from my homeworld, and I ended up in Switzerland in this world. Just a few hours ago, Roma teleported me to Otherworld, and explained the situation. She basically asked me to make sure Solar is taken care of, so he can't destroy the Multiverse. She has given me the ability to travel through the Multiverse, guided by the yellow Zeo Crystal shard."

"Well, how are we supposed to separate Trevor from Onslaught?" asked Kat. "And how are we supposed to fight Solar? Any physical attack will only do damage to Trevor."

"I doubt you'll even manage to do much damage to Solar's body," said Nate, rubbing his chin. "When I battled Onslaught, the only thing that managed to destroy his physical form was the unadulterated wrath of the Hulk, the strongest creature on Earth!"

"Well, we took him down before," said Tommy.

"Not exactly," said Nate, "Roma told me about your first battle with Solar. Y'see, Sailor Mars' Fireball causes evil energy to lash back at itself. It created a vast amount of energy feedback, sorta like clogging a drain. And even that feedback didn't cause Trevor and Onslaught to separate. Besides, he's much stronger now. I doubt the Fireball would have a substantial effect this time."

"How do we find Solar anyway?" asked Alexis.

"I believe I already have," called Billy from his computer.

"What did you find out, Billy?" asked Annie, looking over his shoulder. Billy looked up at her curiously.

"Do I...know

you somehow?" he whispered so only she could hear him.

"Impossible," said Annie hurriedly, "I'm not from this timeline."

"Perhaps not, but you know my name, you are obviously familiar with the CAC, you're wearing the yellow Zeo shard, and the computer has recognized your DNA matrix."

Annie stared silently at Billy. She then noticed the others approaching them.

"We'll talk about this later," she whispered. "Please don't tell anyone!"

"But, I can't keep something like this from them...Kimberly."

"Please, Billy, for the sake of the future! No one should know too much about the future. I'm sure a physicist like yourself can understand the repercussions!"

"What's going on, Billy?" asked Jason, standing behind Annie.

Annie stayed silent, and Billy returned his attention to his computer.

"Well, I traced Holocaust's teleport when he left the battle," said Billy, staring at the results. His jaw dropped.

"Well, don't keep us in suspense!" said Aisha impatiently.

"Holocaust teleported...to the Moon Palace!"

"As in Zedd's palace?!" asked Alexis disbelievingly.

"Solar probably took over Zedd's palace for a base of operations," said Jason. "He must be planning on staying here for a while."

"What do we do?" asked Kat, turning to Tommy.

Tommy shrugged. "We come up with a plan."

Chapter Seven

Holocaust landed with a thud onto the cold, slimy stone floor of Lord Zedd's lunar palace. He stood up immediately, trying to scrape the grime off his exo-armor. He then turned to the throne, where Solar sat in deep meditation. Holocaust angrily stormed towards Solar, his skull glowing red.

"How dare

you pull me out of battle!" he roared down at Solar, "I could have defeated those five rangers once and for all! Then after we had their Zeo shards, we could have attacked the Power Rangers' home base and destroyed the other two! Solar, are you listening to me?!"

Solar had indeed heard every word Holocaust hollered, but he was too busy dealing with the rage of emotions in his splintered mind. He then blinked, his gold power signature tinted with aqua energy. An evil smirk crossed his lips.

"I don't want to kill the Power Rangers," he said quietly. "Or at least, not all of them. But that isn't the reason I summoned you back. I must figure out how I can separate the Zeo Crystal from the bodies of the Power Rangers. In order to wield the Terra powers, each ranger must internalize the gemstones."

"Why don't we just kill them, and rip the crystals from their cold carcasses?" asked Holocaust without the slightest tinge of emotion.

"I don't know if it will work. The crystals are intangible while they are inside the bodies of the Terran Rangers. There is no way to know if that is the case when they die. Besides, I told you, I don't want to kill them all."

"And why not?" asked Holocaust, his temper starting to boil. "If you want to rule the Multiverse, you need those gems. You must crush all who stand in your way, and the Power Rangers are on the TOP

of the list!"

"We must capture one of them," said Solar finally. "That way, we can see how to separate the gem from the human. Once we learn how to do so, we can use the same technique to get the remaining gems. Or, we can also trade the life of the captured ranger for the rest of the gem."

"Very well," said Holocaust with a slight sigh. "But we have to wait until the rangers leave their headquarters and separate. Which one should I capture?"

"Tommy Oliver," said Solar bitterly. "The Red Terran Power Ranger. He is your target."

Chapter Eight

In the Central Access Complex, the seven Power Rangers argued about their next step.

"Jason, we can't just fly to the Moon Palace!" cried Tommy incredulously.

"And why not, oh fearless leader? Just because you never want to try the direct approach? You're not afraid, are you?"

"Well then, Hot Shot, what do we do when we reach the Moon?" sneered Tommy.

"Guys, calm down," said Kat gently. "You're not accomplishing anything."

Jason and Tommy stepped back from each other, still snarling. Annie sighed as she watched from across the room. Nate threw up his hands in frustration.

"I'm getting stir crazy in here!" he complained to Annie. "We have to do something!"

"Well, Jason's idea has merit," whispered Annie. "When the other Terran Rangers and I attacked the Moon Palace in 2006 we managed to not only save Will and the other astronauts, but also to get rid of Zedd and Rita once and for all."

"But we're not dealing with Zedd and Rita! Solar is a killer! And I don't understand how he's blocking my telepathic scans!"

"He's not," said Billy, approaching them. "The CAC cannot be scanned, either with technology, mutant powers, or magic. Your powers cannot penetrate the protective barrier, and neither can Solar's. The computers are especially designed in sync with the barrier's frequency, so we can scan outside through it. Nothing else can penetrate."

"So maybe Solar doesn't know I'm here yet," said Nate quietly, "I have an idea."

Nate walked over to where the Power Rangers were sitting in awkward silence.

"Okay, Tommy, here's the plan. I have reason to believe that Solar may not know of my involvement. That could be the Trump Card we need. And even if he does somehow know I've arrived, there is no way he'll be expecting Annie. Annie is our only chance of stirring Trevor's consciousness. Billy, Annie, and I are gonna figure out a way for us to go to the Moon Palace without being detected. It won't be easy, but there must be a way."

"So what do we do?" asked Alexis, picking up her helmet.

"The seven of you un-morph and go about your business."

"No way!" yelled Tommy, "Solar's attacking Earth, and the Power Rangers have the responsibility to stop him!."

"He's right, Tommy," said Annie quietly, "Solar hasn't informed you of his existence, and there is no reason for you to suspect that Holocaust works for him. Do what you would normally do after you defeat one of Zedd's monsters -- go to the Youth Center and hang out."

Tommy looked at Annie curiously. How does she know so much about us? And why do I get the feeling that I know her somehow? Her voice sounds so -- familiar

...

"But Nate, can you and Annie defeat Solar without any help?" asked Jason. "If I'm not mistaken, the battle against Onslaught in New York cost the lives of dozens of super heroes."

"That was Onslaught, not Solar," said Nate, "I doubt Solar is as powerful as Onslaught was at his prime. At least, not yet. And since Solar is an amalgam of Trevor Monroe and Onslaught, I think we can coax Trevor's consciousness to the forefront. If Trevor has a good enough reason, he can muster the willpower to purge Onslaught from his mind. But, I probably could use Kim's help. She could be my backup telepath."

"If Kim goes, then I'm going too," said Tommy coldly.

Annie smiled weakly and put her hand on Tommy's shoulder. "Don't worry, Tommy, we'll take good care of her. If you come, you'll only complicate matters."

"They're right," said Zack, crossing his arms in front of him. His X-Ranger costume immediately vanished, leaving him in his Adidas shirt and shorts. "Let's go to the Juice Bar and wait for Solar to strike again. This time, we'll be ready for him."

The four Terran Rangers and the Purple Power Ranger un-morphed and prepared to teleport. Kimberly turned to Nate, still in her golden uniform.

"Should I stay here with you three?" she asked quietly.

"Nah, go with your friends, Kim," said Nate. "We'll contact you when we figure something out."

"Did you figure out what Solar wants from us?"

"Revenge, most likely," said Annie, "but we don't know for sure."

With that, Kimberly un-morphed and joined the others. They all teleported out of the CAC.

"Finally, they're gone!" said Annie, pulling off her face mask. "This outfit is so hot!"

Billy couldn't help but stare at "Annie"

in surprise. She looked exactly like the Kimberly he knew: golden brown hair, charming smile, perky nose, and eyes that just twinkled with life. Wow, Kim certainly didn't change much in twelve years

.

"What are you doing?!" yelled Nate in shock, "I thought I told you not to reveal your identity to them! Billy's still here."

"Billy realized it was me already," said Kimberly, trying to fix her hair. "So there's no reason to suffer under that awful mask! Its worse than the Power Ranger helmet." She turned to Billy. "So, what do we do now?"

"I've already started scanning the Moon Palace, to figure out exactly what kind of power Solar is radiating through the area and how we can cloak you from his senses."

"I had a feeling you'd have an idea what to do," said Nate with a smile. "You're just like an old friend of mine. So, how long will this scan of yours take?"

"Half an hour at most," said Billy. "Then I can use the data to create a device to block Solar's scans, and hook it up to the Thunderbird Terrazord. You are taking both Kims, right?"

"Right," answered Kim, sitting down on the step. "So what do we do in the meantime?"

"Well, you can start by telling me about Trevor Monroe," said Billy sternly.

"He's my husband," said Kim quietly. "In my timeline, Zedd and Rita Repulsa left in December 1996. They didn't return, so the six of us went our separate ways. I went back to Florida to prepare for the Olympics right after graduation, and Tommy and I had a fight not long after I left. I was so mad that I didn't talk to him again, 'til about a month later. I sent him a letter, telling him I had met someone..."

"You dumped Tommy?!" cried Billy in disbelief. "You dumped him in a letter?!"

"I didn't really dump him. I think we both understood it was over, I just severed the final link is all. Trevor worked at the gym we practiced in. He also attended the University of Florida. He was one of the two real friends I had in Florida, and our friendship blossomed into something more. After the Olympics, I started studying fashion design in France, where I lived with my mother and step-father. I always kept in touch with Trevor -- he went to Harvard Law. He graduated in the year 2001, and asked for my hand in marriage. We got married in 2002, and now we have a son Anthony. I'm president and CEO of the Hart Fashion Industry, and Trevor is a corporate lawyer. He disappeared in 2007, which is two years ago my time. The rest of the story Nate told you when we first got here."

"How's Tommy?" asked Billy, enthralled by Kim's story. "How'd he take it?"

"I...I don't know. I didn't talk to him again until Zedd and Rita returned in 2006, but Adam once told me he didn't seem the same afterwards. I guess we both spent a lot of time wondering what could have been. We reconciled after we defeated Zedd and Rita and re-activated the Terran Rangers. We're good friends now --"

"I think you've told him enough about his future, Kim," said Nate crossly.

"It doesn't really matter," said Kim, "After all, I'm from an alternate future, one where the Terran Rangers disband. If your Kim doesn't go back to Florida, how will she fall for Trevor anyway? It won't happen."

"So, you, Kat, Tommy, Jason, Aisha, Alexis and Zack are all still active Rangers?" asked Billy. "You and Zack never became X-Rangers? You never passed on your powers to other teenagers?"

"Well, you're almost right," said Kim, "Aisha was never a Terran Ranger. She moved to Africa and became an ethologist. She calls me from time to time, but she never came back to the US, except for a visit every now and then. Adam is the Green Ranger. And I haven't seen Alexis in years. But yes, we're still rangers. Will hasn't figured out a way to transfer the power into people who never had Power Coins. He said that the ownership of a coin biochemically changes the person, making them compatible with the Zeo crystal shards."

"So different, yet so much the same," said Billy quietly. Then, the computer started to beep.

"The scan's done," he said, printing out the information. "You two make yourselves comfortable. I'll be in the Zord hangar. I'll call you if I need you."

With that, Billy hurried out of the main chamber in the CAC while Kim and Nate sat and waited.

"Do you think we'll be able to save Trevor?" asked Kim.

"I honestly don't know," he said. "But we're certainly gonna try."

Chapter Nine

Meanwhile, Zack, Jason, Tommy, Alexis, Katherine, Kimberly, and Aisha sat in the Juice Bar, sipping on various beverages. Usually, they'd be involved in an energetic conversation, or even practicing karate, gymnastics, or weight lifting. Today, however, the seven teens sat in a stony silence.

"Hey guys," called Rocky from the mat. He and Adam had been involved in a heated kata, and didn't notice their best friends walking in. Rocky frowned when no one answered his greeting.

"You okay?" he asked again, strolling over to their table and pulling up a chair beside Alexis. Adam soon joined them, his brow furrowed with worry.

"Did something happen?" he asked in a hushed voice. "Where's Billy?"

"Billy's running some scans in the CAC," whispered Zack.

"Where were you guys?" asked Rocky.

"A monster called Holocaust attacked the plaza," said Alexis. "He escaped."

"So Rita and Zedd are up to their old tricks," said Adam angrily.

"No," said Tommy, "Solar is the one behind it all. We have to wait for him to strike again. I feel so...helpless

!"

Kimberly reached and squeezed his hand reassuringly. "Relax, Tommy. Something will happen soon."

As if on cue, the entire Youth Center started to shake. The nine friends clung desperately to the table in order to not fall down. Suddenly, the shaking stopped, and a huge explosion was heard from outside.

"It came...from the school

!!" cried Jason, leaping to his feet and running outside. The others immediately followed him, and stood in shock in front of the building. The entire entrance was destroyed, along with the majority of the wall along the offices. The teens saw Mr Caplan sitting dumbfounded at his chair, staring at the gaping hole made in his office wall. Adam and Rocky stayed behind as the rangers immediately hid themselves among the rubble.

"It's Morphin Time," cried Zack, crossing his arms, "X-Ranger One!"

"X-Ranger Two!!" cried Kimberly.

"TERRA FIRE POWER!!"

yelled Tommy.

"TERRA WIND POWER!!"

cried Aisha.

"TERRA EARTH POWER!!"

bellowed Jason.

"TERRA WATER POWER!!"

shouted Katherine.

"Purple Ranger Power!" called Alexis. The seven Power Rangers leaped onto the battle scene, immediately digging though the rubble of their school, searching for survivors. The X-Rangers lifted the bricks and steel beams of the damaged building, the Blue and Green Terran Rangers put out the flames caused by the energy blast, while the Purple, Black, and Red Rangers cautiously helped the people trapped in the rubble. Holocaust watched from the roof of the building, chuckling to himself.

Now is my chance to capture the Red Ranger,

he thought, powering up his arm cannon. Now he is inside the burning building, and the others are too busy to help him.

Holocaust burned a hole in the roof, and stealthily slipped through it into the building. He heard a girl screaming for help, and soon saw the Red Ranger approach.

"Hang on, Angela," said the Red Ranger reassuringly, lifting the piece of ceiling that pinned her to the floor, "I've got ya."

He gingerly lifted Angela off the ground, supporting her with his shoulders. He quickly lead her to the entrance, where Holocaust waited for him, barring his way.

"Greetings, Human," he chuckled. "Missed me?"

The Red Ranger struck a protective stance in front of Angela, who was starting to panic.

"So, you're the one who caused this destruction!" shouted Tommy angrily. "Why? What could you possibly gain by hurting these people?"

"Well, I got you here, didn't I?" scoffed Holocaust, raising his arm cannon. "That's all I wanted."

Holocaust fired a deadly plasma ray at Tommy, who effortlessly dodged it. Angela had taken cover behind a fallen row of lockers, watching mutely as her savior battled the hideous creature towering above him. The Red Ranger continued to dodge Holocaust's best shots, causing the latter to glow with rage.

"You may be agile, Boy, but you're too selfless to avoid me forever!" roared Holocaust, charging his arm cannon for one final strike. Instead of pointing to Tommy, however, Holocaust released the pent up energy in the direction of the girl cowering behind the lockers. Tommy immediately saw the danger and leaped to Angela.

"Duck!" he ordered, leaping in the path of the energy beam. Angela screamed in horror as the hot plasma scorched through the Red Ranger's chest, leaving a patch of tender, bleeding flesh. The Red Ranger grunted slightly as he fell to the ground, losing consciousness. Holocaust roared with laughter and flung the fallen ranger over his shoulder.

"You heroes are all alike!" he roared. "Always too busy protecting the weak to properly protect yourselves!"

With that, Holocaust and the Red Ranger disappeared in a streak of golden light, leaving Angela still cowering behind the lockers. She had witnessed the Red Ranger's heroic deed, and had seen the horrible wound he now bore. Her eyes swelled with tears of guilt until she realized that the creature left her there to die.

"Help!" she cried hoarsely, choking back sobbed. "HELP ME, PLEASE!!"

"Where are you?" she heard a voice from by the stairs call to her. She sighed in relief.

"By the lockers!" she answered, standing up to show herself. She was surrounded by powerful flames, and started to choke on the dense smoke.

"I've got ya, Miss!" said the Black Ranger, grabbing her hand. He lifted her gently into his arms and carried her quickly out of the building. Once he was safely away from the building, he gingerly laid Angela on the ground, giving her room to breathe. By now, the fire trucks and ambulances arrived, and helped the Green and Blue Rangers put out the rest of the flames. The Silver, Gold, and Purple Rangers, along with Rocky and Adam, helped the injured people into ambulances. Two attendants lifted Angela off the charred grass and placed her on a cot. They put on an oxygen mask and started to cart her towards the ambulance.

"Hey," said the Black Ranger. "Where's the Red Ranger?"

Upon hearing the question, Angela immediately pulled the mask off her face and cried out, getting the rangers' attention.

"The creature with the red skull grabbed him!" she coughed. The Power Rangers and Rocky and Adam all stopped what they were doing and ran to her, who was trying desperately to stop coughing.

"What do you mean?" asked the Gold Ranger gently.

"He was trying to save me...and the monster shot a blast at me...Red Ranger blocked the plasma...he's hurt badly and unconscious...the monster grabbed him and --"

Angela fell into a fit of coughs and the attendants immediately placed the mask back over her mouth. The Power Rangers stood back as the attendants carted Angela into the ambulance.

"Holocaust took Tommy," whispered Alexis. "But why?"

"We should get to the CAC," said Zack, "and fast!"

"What's going on here?" asked Rocky in exasperation.

"It would take too long to explain," answered Aisha.

"Do you guys need our help?" asked Adam, "I don't think there's much we can do here."

"We'll keep ya posted," said Jason. "All clear?"

The Power Rangers took a quick scan around the area to make sure the situation was under control. The six rangers looked at each other, and in silent agreement, they disappeared in six streaks of colored light.

Chapter Ten

Tommy moaned quietly as he came into awareness. His eyes slowly opened, but there was nothing to see -- everything was pitch black. He felt a searing pain in his chest, and tried to feel if he was bleeding, but his hand wouldn't respond. He then realized that both his arms and legs were restrained. He felt the chill winds blowing against his bare arms and legs, and noticed that he was no longer wearing his insulated Power Ranger uniform. He was lying on his back, wearing his red tank top and beige denim shorts, that reached just below his knee. He struggled against his restraints and tried to cry out, but his voice cracked and he was suddenly out of breath. Breathing became painful and difficult.

I hope I didn't puncture a lung, he thought gloomily, I can tell I have at least one broken rib.

Tommy shut his eyes tightly when a bright light flashed from nowhere. When his eyes adjusted, he lifted his head to see two forms approaching him from an enlightened entrance.

"Hello, Tommy," said the tall one, "I'm glad you're still alive. I was worried I had used too much power. I do hope you're comfortable on Finster's work table."

"Whatever you're looking for...I'm not gonna help...you find it!" wheezed Tommy painfully.

"You're so brave, Boy," chuckled the shorter figure. "But what I have planned for you doesn't require your consent."

Tommy squinted to clear his vision. He recognized Holocaust's mocking voice immediately, but the other voice wasn't clear. He saw a man, about six foot two, with sandy blonde hair and a rather muscular build. He had aqua colored eyes, and he wore a red, white, and blue armored uniform with a gold badge on his chest. Tommy recognized the figure immediately.

"Solar," he mumbled quietly, resting his head back against the cold stone lab table.

"Aren't you surprised to see me?" asked Solar, grinning maliciously. "After all, I'm sure you thought you killed me during our last encounter. I see your hair has gotten even longer!"

"Cut to the point," grumbled Tommy quietly, trying not to show how much pain he was in.

"Fine then. I plan on separating the red Zeo Crystal shard from your body."

Tommy looked up at Solar in surprise. "Why? The shard only responds to its rightful owner -- the one destined to wield its powers."

"Not true. You see, I plan on collecting all six shards to re-create the Zeo Crystal. Then I'm on my way to possessing the M'Kraan Crystal. You have a choice. If you surrender the shard willingly, it will be a painless procedure. If not, then I'll have to extract it myself, which will certainly cause you incredible pain and quite possibly death."

"Do what you will -- you're not getting any help from me," Tommy said weakly, but sternly.

"Fine. Holocaust, hook him up to that device we found in the laboratory."

Holocaust connected a few wires to the bed that Tommy was lying on, and activated one of Lord Zedd's old power-absorption machines. This particular one was the one Zedd used to drain the last vestiges of pink power from Kimberly during her last days as the Pink Ranger.

"This machine will transfer the energies of the crystal into another vessel," Solar explained, grinning. "Once all the energy within the crystal has been absorbed, then I can extract the crystal from your body without worrying about the possible hazards of doing so. Then the energy will be returned to the crystal. Of course by then, you'll be dead. The process should take about an hour to drain all your energy. You have that much time to change your mind. Your body cannot withstand the incredible stress of having the gemstone lose its power while still in you heart. If you surrender the gemstone willingly, I'll let you live."

With that, the two villains left the laboratory and shut the door behind them, leaving Tommy in darkness.

"It won't work!" growled Holocaust. "The boy has too much spirit. He will never give you the gem. You should have just killed him quickly and taken the gem from his corpse."

"How many times do I have to tell you that it might not work?! I refuse to take any chances. Besides, he may not surrender to save his own life, but he surely will to save the lives of the other rangers, and they'll surrender their Zeo shards to save him. Friendship is the humans' greatest weakness. They'd do anything to save each other, even let evil win."

Chapter Eleven

In the Central Access Complex, the six remaining Power Rangers arrived. Annie immediately hid her face behind her mask and visor, and both Billy and Nate turned around in surprise.

"What're you doing here?" asked Billy, "I didn't call you yet."

"Where's Tommy?" asked Nate frowning.

"You don't know?!" cried Kimberly in rage, "Holocaust kidnapped him! He also nearly burned down the whole school! Four students are seriously injured, and the building will take weeks to repair! Its a miracle no one was killed!"

"Impossible," said Billy, running to his personal desk and activating his PC. "If there was any release of powerful energy, the system would have alerted us!"

"Solar probably cloaked the whole thing," said Nate, slamming his fist into a console. "And Holocaust snatched Tommy too?"

"Yes," said Jason. "Our friend Angela saw the whole thing."

"What do we do?" asked Katherine.

"Nate," said Annie, moving towards the zord hangar. "We'd better go now."

"You're right," said Nate, turning to face her, "Tommy's in great danger. Billy, is the Thunderbird Terrazord prepped for take off?"

"Affirmative," answered Billy solemnly. "The ship is cloaked from Solar's telepathic powers. You should be able to fly it close enough to the Moon Palace to enter it stealthily."

"Great!" said Kimberly, strapping her gold helmet back on. "Let's go!"

Annie looked to Nate, turned to her younger self, and sighed.

"Kim, you probably shouldn't come. Solar raised the stakes when he grabbed Tommy."

"There's no way you're going to the Moon without me. You need me."

Nate sighed and nodded his head. "She's right. We'll need all the help we can get."

As the trio ran towards the hangar, a face appeared on the Viewing Globe. A deep chuckle was heard through the audio systems, and Nate stopped in his tracks.

"Onslaught's laugh," he whispered, as he, Kim, and Annie ran back into the CAC. They saw the other rangers circled around the viewing globe. It was a close-up of a human with sandy blonde hair and aqua eyes.

"That's Solar?" asked Jason. "He certainly doesn't look that tough."

"Looks can be deceiving," said Nate quietly.

^Greetings, owners of the Zeo Crystal. I am Solar, the ruler of the Multiverse! I have a deal to offer you.^

The image shifted, and in a dark room, lying on a stone bed connected to a machine was --

"Tommy!" cried Kimberly. "What're you doing to him?"

^This machine drains the energies of the Zeo shard. The process will most likely kill Tommy, since the crystal is still in his body. He has one hour before the process is complete. Therefore, you have one hour to surrender your Zeo shards to me.^

The image disappeared, leaving the Viewing Globe blank.

"Jason," said Kimberly quietly, a golden glow transforming her out of uniform, "we need to buy ourselves time. If we don't come back to Earth before the deadline, give Solar the crystals."

"Excuse me?" said Jason incredulously. "We can't! We'll be helpless, and Solar will conquer the universe! I know how you feel about Tommy, but --"

"Jason, we can always get the crystal back, but once Tommy's dead, he's dead

!!" cried Kimberly, nearly quaking with fear and anger. She raised her arms to the air, and in a flash of yellow light, her yellow Zeo shard floated out of her chest and landed in her palm. She placed it in Jason's hand. Jason looked at her, and nodded in agreement.

"But, Kim, how will you manage to fight without your powers?" whispered Alexis.

"Her telepathic powers are part of her," said Nate. "They'll function without the Zeo shard."

"WHAT?!"

cried all the Power Rangers in shock.

"When Roma created the X-Ranger powers, she used my and Magneto's powers as templates. Magneto and I are both mutants, so, in effect, Kimberly and Zack can access their powers from within, even when the crystal is separated from their bodies. But, its not as powerful, and requires far more focus. But with practice, you can develop formidable natural skills."

"Roma did say that the X-Ranger powers were special," observed Zack.

"Wait a minute!" cried Aisha. "How do you plan to fly the Thunderbird without your Zeo shard, Kim? After all, the crystal is like the ignition!"

"Oh, I didn't think of that," said Kimberly quietly.

"It shouldn't be a problem," said Annie, "I can pilot the zord."

"How?" asked Katherine.

"I...uh," said Annie, searching for an explanation that didn't blow her cover.

"I created a device to allow Annie to pilot the Thunderzord," lied Billy, "just in case we decided that Kim should stay behind."

"Right," said Nate. "Now, we have lives to save."

The three heroes hurried into the zord hangar and sealed the door behind them.

"So," said Kimberly, "how are you going to activate the zord?"

"Simple," said Annie, lifting her arms to the sky, "TERRA LIGHTNING POWER!!"

After a blinding flash of yellow light, Annie was wearing the yellow uniform and golden shield of the Yellow Terran Power Ranger. Kimberly's jaw dropped.

"Yellow Thunderbird...ACTIVATE

!!" continued Annie, and the whole hangar was saturated with yellow light. The red eyes of the Thunderbird began to glow, and its beak opened, releasing a loud shriek. The beak remained open, and the three heroes entered the ship and climbed up the ladder, which lead to the cockpit. Annie buckled up at the pilot's seat as Kim and Nate sat in passenger seats in the back.

"Billy," said Annie into the communicator. "Is the cloaking device on line?"

^It will be, once you activate the voice identification scanner,^

said Billy's voice.

Annie turned off the communicator and flipped a switch.

"PLEASE STATE FULL NAME, COLOR, AND POWER SOURCE"

said the computer.

"Kimberly Hart -- Yellow Ranger -- Lightning! Thunderbird on-line!"

The zord gave a final cry and the thrusters activated. The door to the hangar opened, and the zord flew out the door, headed to the Moon.

"I hope you two are buckled up," said Annie, "I haven't done this in a while."

Kimberly absently buckled the seat belt, and continued staring at "Annie"

. She then turned to Nate, frowning.

"Why did you lie to me, Nate?!" she demanded. "Why did you lie to us all?!"

"Well, I really didn't want you, any of you, to know too much about the future. I needed her help to stop Solar, but I also wanted to preserve the future. So, I disguised her."

Kimberly crossed her arms angrily, mumbling to herself. She then sat up again, her doe eyes wide with surprised realization.

"Are you really Solar's wife?" she asked the Yellow Ranger.

"I'm Trevor Monroe's wife, Kimberly," she answered.

Kimberly fell back against the back of her seat, still overcome with shock. "What happened to Tommy?" she asked quietly. "What could have possibly happened between us? I always thought eventually..."

"Kim, the future isn't written in stone," said Nate. "In her timeline, Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa disappeared in the winter of 1996, so the team disbanded. She went back to Florida, and...well..."

"I fell in love with Trevor," said the Yellow Ranger matter-of-factly, "and I don't regret it in the least. I love my husband. If I didn't, I wouldn't be risking my life for him now."

"But, what about Tommy?" asked Kimberly quietly, "Did you...dump him, or was it some kind of mutual separation...?"

"I'm the one who officially ended 'us'

, but I'm sure we both knew it was over."

"And...are you and Tommy...happy with your lives?" asked Kim, rubbing her arms for warmth.

"Yes. We're good friends now, and I'm happily married. Tommy's wedding is next week."

"Who is he marrying?" asked Kimberly, her curiosity piqued.

"Maybe it's better that you don't know," interrupted Nate. "It doesn't matter anyway. He never would have fallen for her if he and Kim stayed together. Besides, we have work to do. Don't forget, both of you have loved ones trapped in that castle. Kim, how close are we?"

"About half an hour," she said. "If we go any faster, we may be detected. And by the way, you'd better just call me Annie. We don't want to get confused, do we?"

"We're certainly cutting it close," said Kim worriedly, "Tommy only has another fifty minutes left, before --"

"We know Kim. We're doing our best."

Chapter Twelve

Solar angrily marched into the laboratory. He telekinetically crushed the iron door and lit up the whole room with his bright blue psionic fury. He leaned over Tommy, staring him in the eye.

"Give me your Zeo crystal shard NOW

!!" roared Solar, his eyes glowing fiercely with a strange aqua colored power.

"Never," whispered Tommy weakly.

Solar scowled in anger and punched Tommy in the chest with all his might. Tommy groaned loudly, and nearly lost consciousness.

"I should tear you apart limb from limb, Tommy," said Solar angrily, "I owe you that."

"What are you talking about?" whispered Tommy. "What have I ever done to you?"

Solar sneered. He telekinetically ripped Tommy off the lab table and threw him against the cold wall. Tommy crumpled against the wall, hearing bones break in his body.

That's probably another rib or two,

he thought grimly, I don't know how much of Solar's wrath I can survive. His voice sounds so...human

, so in pain

. And his powers aren't gold anymore -- what does it mean...?

Solar stood above Tommy, still glowing with rage.

"You dare ask me what you've done to me?" he roared. "You're the one thing standing in the way of what I love most of all! You both are so young, so in love! And even in my time, you still love her, and she still loves YOU

!! If I kill you right now, you can't keep us apart anymore! You will no longer come between us!"

Tommy could barely understand a word Solar said, since he was fighting to stay conscious. A dozen thoughts were racing through his head as he tried to focus enough to morph. However, the energy draining process had left its mark, and even though he wasn't completely drained, he couldn't muster the strength to even stand up.

"Calm down, Trevor," whispered Tommy, "I only want to help you."

"HELP ME?!"

cried Solar. "You're the one who needs help! You took everything from me! She is the world to me, did you know that?"

"Trevor, please. You know you don't want to do this. Annie, your wife, told us you're a good man. Help us help you, Trevor. Help us stop Onslaught. You're his pawn!"

"Annie?!" asked Solar, glowing in rage. "Who is Annie? You're trying to trick me, Oliver! Our little 'friendship'

ends now!"

Tommy's squeezed his eyes shut, and tried desperately to concentrate, and pushed past the pain that threatened to make him pass out. Gotta think fast! Gotta find something to think about to calm him down. Before he kills

me.

Tommy focused his mind on Annie, the woman who fell from the portal earlier that day. She had claimed to be Trevor's wife. He forced himself to visualize their conversation with her:

"Trevor Monroe?" said Kimberly with a gasp, "I know him! He works at the gym I trained at in Florida. He's a nice guy, definitely not capable of being Solar."

"Trevor isn't capable of evil," said Annie. "The creature called Onslaught has taken over my husband's body! We have to find a way to destroy Onslaught while not harming Trevor..."

Solar cut off from Tommy's mind and fell to his knees, clutching his head in his hands.

"Kimberly," he whispered in his human voice, "she's here! She came for me...to help me."

Tommy's eyes shot open, and stared at Solar in absolute amazement.

KIMBERLY?!?!

Of course! That explains why she sounded so familiar, and also why she hid her face from us. It makes sense now. Everything. But, why did Kim marry this guy? What happened to US

? Is this what the future holds for us?!

"No!" cried Solar, his voice quickly deepening. "The woman means nothing to me! I am Solar, the ruler of the Multiverse! She must die! They must all DIE

!!"

Solar lifted his head from his hands, his aqua eyes glowing gold. His face was unexpressive, and his glowing eyes displayed pure, unfathomable power.

"Nice try, Human," he said, "but I am stronger than Monroe. I am Solar, and I think for myself. I can keep my halves under control. And I will have the Zeo Crystal."

Solar stared at Tommy, and a glow of pure gold energy surrounded the Red Ranger. Tommy was lifted into the air, and placed onto the stone bed. The restraints quickly wrapped around his appendages, limiting his mobility. But Tommy was already too weak to resist. Solar then reactivated the machine, which continued to drain Tommy's energy. Tommy immediately passed out, and lay unconscious on the table.

"He is too weak to survive much longer," said Solar flatly. "Now is the time to go and claim the Zeo shards."

Solar walked to his throne room, where Holocaust was observing Earth from the balcony.

"Where did you go?" asked Holocaust.

"I had a little...issue

to settle with the boy," he said calmy, "I had to teach him a lesson."

"Oh? How did it go?"

"Well," Solar said, sitting on Lord Zedd's throne. "Actually, the best word to describe it is...therapeutic

. Now is the time to strike, my friend. Go to Earth, and wait for the Power Rangers outside the ruins of the Command Center. I shall contact them through the Viewing Globe. If they refuse to surrender the gems, destroy them all."

"Very well," said Holocaust, stepping through the portal of light Solar made for him.

Chapter Thirteen

In the Central Access Complex, Jason, Alexis, Zack, Katherine, Aisha, and Billy waited anxiously for any kind of message from Nate, Kimberly, or Annie.

Billy worked furiously on his scanning systems, trying to find a way to register if there was any human life on the Moon.

Zack and Aisha paced around the room in frustration, occasionally checking the Viewing Globe, which now kept count of the minutes until the one hour deadline.

Katherine sat in a corner of the CAC with a grim expression on her face. Alexis stood beside her, with a look of dread as the time ticked down.

Jason stood silently in the center of the CAC. He was holding Kimberly's Zeo shard, and was lost in deep thought.

We only have twenty minutes left! What if they don't get back in time? What do I do? I can't surrender to Solar! If I do, the whole universe is at stake. But, I can't let anything happen to Tommy. He's always been a brother to me, and I know that he would do anything in his power to save me if I were in his place. But I doubt Solar would actually return Tommy to us if we give up the crystals -- heck, we've played that game too many times. But, at least Solar won't have a reason to kill him, and then maybe we could send a distress call to Zordon, or the Aquitians, or even the Spectrum Force. But, do we have time? I doubt it...

Everyone was pulled out of their reverie by a bright light shining from the Viewing Globe. Everyone turned around to see Solar's face once again glaring at them, his eyes glowing gold.

^Hello, Power Rangers. As you must realize, your time is nearly up. I don't think poor Tommy will last much longer.^

Solar started to chuckle maliciously, further infuriating the rangers who listened.

^Now is your one and only chance to rescue the Red Ranger. I have sent Holocaust to the ruins of your Command Center above you. Give him the five remaining Zeo shards, and the boy will live. Try and trick me, and he dies an agonizing death at my hand. Oh and trust me, I won't hesitate to kill him. He's been a thorn in my side too long.^

Everyone turned to Jason questioningly, praying he would come up with an answer. Even Billy, who usually accepted the decision-making role, deferred to the acting leader.

"You have a deal," said Jason quietly, clutching Kim's crystal. "We'll be right up."

^Excellent,^

chuckled Solar, and his image disappeared from the screen.

"Let's go and get this over with," muttered Zack, preparing to teleport.

Billy remained silent as he watched his friends depart from the CAC. Everyone had dark, bitter expressions on their faces. Especially Jason.

"Jason isn't a quitter," Billy reasoned, walking towards the communications system. "He's not giving up the Zeo shards. The amount of damage Solar can cause with that kind of power is immeasurable. The rangers are going to fight."

Billy glanced up at the Viewing Globe, which now displayed Holocaust, standing triumphantly atop the ruins of the Command Center. The five remaining Power Rangers were standing there as well, in a row with Jason standing a bit closer to the villain. The look in Jason's eyes spoke volumes as he gazed upon the foreboding monster.

"I'd better get the medical unit ready," Billy decided, "and I'll contact Adam and Rocky. I may be able to use their help if things get rough. Its too bad Tanya is still in Africa with her parents. I could probably use the extra set of hands."

Billy activated the communications system, and Adam immediately responded.

^What's up, Billy?^

he whispered though his communicator.

"The rangers have gone into battle, and it looks like its gonna be a tough one. I need you to come here and stand-by. I'll probably need your help down here really soon."

In seconds two beams of white light landed in the CAC. Adam and Rocky ran to Billy, who was busy prepping the medical unit.

"We're ready to help," said Adam, folding his arms, "in any way we can."

Chapter Fourteen

Meanwhile, the Thunderbird parked in a crater on the Moon. Three lone heroes stepped onto the lunar surface -- one Power Ranger, and two people inside a telekinetic bubble, protecting them from the vacuum of space.

"We're about a mile away from the palace," said Annie, standing on a boulder. "You can see it from up here!"

The other two floated to the boulder to take a look.

"So, what's the plan?" asked Kimberly.

"We get inside," said Nate, flying towards the Moon Palace. "Now let's go. I can block us telepathically, but I don't know how long the shields will last. Besides, I think Tommy's time is almost up."

Nate carried all three of them inside a telekinetic bubble, and they quickly floated over the desolate surface of the moon. In minutes they reached the base of the palace.

"We could enter by way of the balcony," suggested Annie.

"True, but we'll lose the element of surprise!" objected Kim. "Besides, I want to check up on Tommy. He must be somewhere in that palace."

"Do you know where to look though, Kim?" asked Nate, looking up at the balcony.

"Not really," Kim replied, "but I have to try."

"Okay then, we'll split up. Kim, you find another way into the palace, and take Annie with you. I'll barge into the throne room. I think I can feel Solar's presence there. Kim, keep in touch with me telepathically. Once you're both inside, find Tommy, and then get to the throne room. I know I'm gonna need your help."

"Uh, how am I supposed to be able to breathe?" asked Kim.

"Create a TK bubble, just like this one."

"But, I've never done that before. At least, not without the Zeo shard."

"Just relax, and envision an aura of energy surrounding your body. Telekinesis is relatively easy to get used to. Its the telepathy that's hard."

Kimberly closed her eyes, and followed Nate's instruction. A golden translucent shield of energy formed around her body, and stretched out to form a bubble. She opened her eyes, and touched the bubble with her hand hesitantly.

"Cool," she whispered.

"Okay, let's move."

"Right," said the two women in unison, and they both ran along the palace's outer wall, hoping to find an entrance. Nate focused his telekinetic powers to propel himself to the balcony, a good twenty stories off the ground.

It's harder controlling my TK when there isn't any gravity,

he thought. If I'm not careful, I could accidentally throw myself into deep space!

Nate slowly rose to the balcony, and stood on the railing. Immediately, he felt the gravity around him, and lowered his shield to breathe in the oxygen.

Amazing, the castle has oxygen and gravity, but there's no field around it keeping the air in.

Nate walked around in the throne room, seeing nothing but thick smoke.

"Nice place," he said aloud. "Show yourself, Solar! I know you're here!"

"Greetings, Nate Grey," came a voice from within the smoke. The smoke dissipated to reveal a throne. Sitting on the throne was Solar, his hand clasped together and a wicked smile on his face, "I've been expecting you."

"How did you know I was here?" asked Nate, completely astonished.

"I knew you'd rush to help your young friends. You're too predictable, Boy. Especially considering that, for a brief time, you were a part of me."

Nate's eyes glowed with energy as he fired a TK blast at Solar. Solar blocked it with his own golden powers and stood up.

"I know you must hate me, Nathan. After all, I killed all your friends. The Avengers believed in you and befriended you, and now they're all gone. Each and every one of them. Too bad you couldn't save them. Just like you couldn't save your home world from Apocalypse. You couldn't save Forge, the only father you ever knew, and you couldn't even find your best friend Shadow. Perhaps he's been avoiding you, Nathan."

Nate's fury began to boil as he fired an even more powerful telekinetic blast at Solar. Once again, he deflected it.

"You always claimed to be the most powerful mutant alive. Well, I am not a mutant. I am the one and only Solar, and you are not match for me!"

Solar forced himself into Nate's mind. He immediately pulls Nate's consciousness out of his body and into the Astral Plane. Nate's physical body collapses to the ground while Nate's astral form takes shape. So begins the psionic battle between two of the most powerful telepaths in the Multiverse.

Chapter Fifteen

Jason Scott Lee remained frozen. His body was as still as death, as he stood and watched the creature known as Holocaust. Although he and his fellow Power Rangers had only been on the surface for a matter of seconds, Jason's perception of time was like the flow of molasses. Jason could feel the eyes of his teammates on his back. He knew they were expecting him to make the first move. He was the leader, given the situation, and therefore he determined the plan of action. He could count on his friends backing up his final decision. Although Jason had already made his final decision in the Central Access Complex, he is now once again questioning that reasoning.

If Tommy dies, I'll lose my best friend. Kim will lose her boyfriend, and the rest of the team loses a trusted friend and leader. The entire world will lose a vailliant hero. But what would Tommy think if I jeopardize the universe for his sake? If I give Holocaust the Zeo Crystal, the consequences will be serious for all that exists. Kim and Zack told us all how vital the Zeo Crystal's role is in the grand scheme of time, as a piece of the M'Kraan Crystal. I don't know what all that means, but I do know that evil can't have it. I have to stop thinking like a friend, and start thinking like a warrior...

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Holocaust roared, obviously upset. "Considering your precious leader only has about...twelve minutes left in his life, I would think you would act with a bit more...urgency

."

Jason's face remained stony, as he slipped the yellow Zeo shard, that he was still holding in his hand, into his jeans pocked. He then slowly turned around, and glanced towards his friends. One by one, his dark eyes locked with those of his friends. He silently transmitted his intentions to the fellow Power Rangers, and he received their feedback in a similar fashion. Zack's deep brown eyes displayed sad, yet adamant agreement.

Aisha's lighter brown eyes showed little surprise at Jason's change of heart.

Alexis' emerald green eyes were supportive.

Katherine's crystal blue eyes were at first upset, but then settled into an understanding gaze.

Jason was reassured that his friends were in agreement with him. It was unanimous.

"Holocaust," announced Jason, glaring back at the armored creature with cold anger, "we're not surrendering."

"WHAT?!"

cried Holocaust, completely shocked. "You will actually let your friend and leader die an agonizing and untimely death, knowing you could have done something to stop it?!"

"If we surrender, we'll give you the upper hand," said Zack, stepping beside Jason. "The whole universe will fall."

"Tommy wouldn't want us to risk the whole universe to save his life," said Kat sternly, also stepping forward.

"There's no way we can trust a villain to keep his promise, and give back Tommy," said Alexis, joining her friends.

"So go back to your boss, and tell him that no one messes with the Terran Power Rangers!!" Aisha finished.

"Its Morphin Time!" Jason announced, "TERRA EARTH POWER!!"

"TERRA WATER POWER!!"

cried Katherine.

"TERRA WIND POWER!!"

screamed Aisha.

"X-Ranger One!!" shouted Zack.

"Purple Ranger Power!!" Alexis finished, clutching her morpher.

Holocaust's mouth twisted into a smile as he gazed at the group of brave young heroes. "Perhaps you aren't as weak as I thought you were, Power Rangers. No matter, though. In the end, all seven of you will end up dead, and the Zeo crystals will decorate Solar's throne room!"

With that, Holocaust leaped at the rangers. He slammed into an invisible magnetic shield, erected by the Silver X-Ranger, and fell back to the ground. The others immediately leaped into action.

"Time to rock his world!" roared Jason, slamming his fists into the ground. The force of Jason's punch caused the ground to crack, and the small canyon stretched under Holocaust. Holocaust leaped off the ground and fired a tight plasma beam at Jason. Jason moved to dodge the beam, but he didn't move fast enough -- the beam sliced through the flesh of his shoulder, narrowly missing the bone. Holocaust moved in for the kill, but was met with an explosive flying kick from the Green Ranger. Usually, such a kick wouldn't even make Holocaust flinch, since he wears a mighty exoskeleton. But Aisha propelled herself with her wind power, making an impact like a cannonball. Holocaust was thrown back, and there was a faint crack in the chest area of his armor.

"I'm not through yet, girl!" roared Holocaust, charging up his arm cannon. He fired a very wide, less potent beam, which not only knocked out Aisha, but it also hit Jason, who was trying to recover from his shoulder injury. Holocaust was then struck by a steel beam, part of the imploded Command Center upon which the battle took place. He angrily picked up the beam, and crunched it into a ball. He proceeded to throw the ball mightily at Zack, who had to concentrate to magnetically stop the ball's momentum. While he was momentarily distracted, Holocaust fired his mightiest plasma beam at Zack, penetrating his magnetic shield and striking him largely in the helmet. The helmet cracked with the force of the hit, and Zack fell motionless to the ground. Holocaust smiled and started to laugh mightily.

"Don't laugh too soon!" called Alexis, pointing her fists at Holocaust. "The fun's just starting!"

Invisible streams of ultraviolet light poured forth, striking Holocaust in the chest. Holocaust laughed at her.

"What is light going to do against my impenetrable armor?" he asked her. Alexis stopped firing and pulled out her Laser Whip.

"We'll see what some concentrated light can do!" she declared, wrapping the whip around his arm cannon. Holocaust smiled.

"That was a mistake," he said, as plasma energy streamed from his cannon, through the whip, and into the Purple Ranger. She screamed in pain, and fell to the ground.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!! I defeated the Power Rangers in three minutes. Amazing! How on Earth did these puny teenagers manage to defeat evil for so long? Could their usual enemies possibly be any more incompetent than these twerps?"

Holocaust approached the bodies of the rangers.

The Purple one was unconscious, but there wasn't much physical damage done.

The Black one, on the other hand, had a nasty injury to the shoulder, and a few other minor cuts through the suit.

The Green Ranger, who was thrown back with the blast, had landed on a jagged piece of steel, slicing through the flesh of her side.

The X-Ranger lay in a heap, with a severe dent in his silver helmet, and a part of the mouthpiece chipped off.

He's probably dead,

Holocaust mused. That's three more Zeo shards for Sol -- wait a minute. THREE?!

Weren't there four Terran Rang --?

Before Holocaust could finish that thought, he was struck by a wave of liquid. It instantly hardened, and he suddenly couldn't move a muscle. He was trapped in a frozen heap. His eyes widened as he saw a massive mechanical alligator approaching him menacingly.

^That's my liquid oxygen ray, Holocaust,^

said the voice of the Blue Ranger from inside the Alligator Terrazord. ^Don't even bother trying to escape. No doubt the cold will make your exoskeleton very brittle...^

Holocaust struggled to free himself from his icy prision, by he couldn't. He watched in a red-hot rage as the Blue Ranger leapt out of the Zord and landed gracefully on the ground. She walked right past him and checked on her three unconscious friends.

"Aisha? Jason? Lex? Can you guys hear me?"

Aisha moaned and sat up. She struggled to stand up, and touched the slash on her side. She gasped at the loss of blood, but managed to remain standing. Kat had helped Jason stand. Alexis slowly rose to her feet, and joined them.

"Where's Zack?" whispered Jason, clutching his shoulder to try to stop the bleeding.

Aisha ran as quickly as she could to where she saw the broken body of X-Ranger One. His left leg looked crushed and his helmet was nearly shattered. Red patches of fresh blood stained the pale silver of his costume.

"Billy," whispered Aisha into her communicator, "teleport Zack in now. He's been hurt..."

^I'm on it,^

answered Billy, and Zack disappeared in a flash of silver light.

"What do we do about Holocaust?" asked Katherine, who was still helping Jason stand.

"I don't know," said Alexis quietly. "We certainly can't destroy him. We don't have the power!"

"I guess the question is, should we destroy him?" Kat asked, still holding her boyfriend tightly. "Is he a magical creature?"

Their conversation was interrupted by a muffled scream. They all turned their attention towards Holocaust, whose yellow translucent exo-skeleton seemed to turn blue. They all saw utter terror in his eyes as even his blood red skull became blue.

"The crack!" squealed Aisha weakly, moving to Holocaust. Alexis, Katherine and Jason slowly followed.

"What crack?" asked Alexis.

"The crack I made in his armor with that kick! The LOX must have penetrated the armor through the crack, freezing Holocaust's organic parts from the inside!"

"I had only intended to imprison him, not to freeze him to death!" said Kat, still surprised.

"But, is he really dead?" asked Aisha, removing her helmet and staring closely into Holocaust's frozen eyes. He certainly looked dead, but one can never be sure.

"He will be in a minute," said Jason emotionlessly, raising his uninjured arm to the sky. The Earth Sword appeared, and Jason painfully clutched the hilt with both hands. Katherine, and the other rangers, stepped back to give the Black Ranger some room. He then focused his energy, and the blade began to glow with black energy. He pointed the sword at the frozen form of Holocaust, and released the pent up seismic power. Holocaust was hit by a seismic force equaling a 7.3 earthquake on the Richter Scale. The force of the quaking energy shattered the LOX crystal, and Holocaust within it, into billions of sand-sized pieces. Jason dropped his sword in exhaustion, and collapsed to his knees. Both Aisha and Alexis caught him before he fell on his face.

"We'll take him to the CAC," said Alexis, looking up at the Blue Ranger. "You park the Alligator Terrazord and follow."

"Right," said Katherine, leaping onto the snout of the zord. She entered the cockpit, and steered the mighty Alligator back into the Terrazord Hangar. Alexis and Aisha had teleported both themselves and Jason to the CAC, where Billy and Adam were hurriedly working on Zack's injuries. Rocky was inside a storage closet, digging thought a pile of high tech medical tools.

"What happened to Jason?" asked Billy, sounding exhausted.

"He has a severe shoulder injury," answered Alexis, sitting the unconscious Black Ranger on a chair against the wall. "Don't you have another bed?"

"Just a minute," said Billy, activating one of the various healing devices attached to the medical unit Zack was lying on. He immediately reverted out of costume, and a soft blue force field surrounded his injured leg. A beam of white light was focused at Zack's head, where his injury was.

"Adam, keep an eye on Zack's EEG readings," ordered Billy.

"You got it," said Adam, focusing on Zack's brain waves on the small screen.

"Well, Zack's leg should be healed soon," said Billy, wiping the sweat off his forehead and approaching Jason, Alexis, and Aisha, "but he has slipped into a coma. He's lucky to have survived such a blow to the head. Help me with Jason."

Billy was examining the gash slicing through Jason's shoulder. "I need to get him out of this uniform in order to treat him," he said irritatedly. "It was so much easier to un-morph you guys when you had morphers. Now that the Zeo crystals are inside your bodies, I can't very well take them away. The med-unit has an automatic un-morpher, but since its being used at the moment...Rocky, hand me the negative-proton ray? It's the one that looks like a rifle."

Rocky searched for a few minutes, and then jogged across the room, giving Billy a machine that looked like a rifle. He held it in two hands, and fired a beam of blue light directly at Jason's heart. In a flash of black light, the Black Ranger uniform vanished, leaving Jason in his street clothes. He then put the rifle-like machine back in his desk and typed some commands into the teleporter, making a cot appear next to the chair Jason was slumped on.

"Too bad we only have one med-unit," muttered Billy, as he and Rocky gently lifted Jason onto the cot, "This cot will have to do. Zack's injuries are more life-threatening."

Aisha slumped into the chair Jason was sitting on, pressing her side discreetly with a towel.

Suddenly, the Blue Ranger appeared in a flash of light blue light.

"How are they?" she asked, immediately un-morphing.

"Zack's been stabilized, and Jason should be fine," said Billy, finishing cleaning the cut on Jason's arm. He then wrapped the arm tightly in bandages, and attached a small machine onto Jason's arm above the bandage.

"That ought to stop the bleeding, but the flesh has to be re-generated," said Billy, standing up straight and stretching his back, "I'll have to wait 'til Zack's healed before I can put Jason on the med-unit."

"Aisha!" Rocky cried suddenly, staring at his friend in shock. "You're bleeding!"

"It's nothing," she said weakly, "I'll be fine."

Billy shook his head and once again typed commands into the teleporter. Another cot appeared, near the one Jason was resting on. Rocky helped Aisha lie down while Billy picked up the negative-proton ray to un-morph her. Once that was done, he began to scan the cut.

"You were cut by a piece of rusted metal," he said sternly. "That's very dangerous, Aisha. You could have gotten a serious infection. Rocky, get me some more bandages, please? And that antibiotic ray?"

Once again, Rocky ran to the closet. Billy ran some other device over Aisha's injury. Rocky handed both items to Billy. Billy first ran the warm blue beam over the length of the cut, and then unwrapped the bandaging.

"This'll need stitches," he said, wrapping Aisha's wound. "But I can't regenerate the flesh until Zack is out of the danger zone. Adam, how are his brain waves?"

"He's out of his coma!" announced Adam, "but he's still unconscious."

Billy ran to the teleporter, and in two beams of bright light, Aisha and Zack switched places. Zack was sleeping peacefully on the cot, while Adam started running the flesh regeneration program on the med-unit, which immediately starting closing the horrible gash on Aisha's side. While Adam kept an eye on Aisha, Billy turned to Zack, and examined the formerly broken leg.

"It's still a little tender," he mentioned, "I'll finish the second stage of the bone regeneration program after Aisha's been taken care of."

While Adam and Billy were tending to Zack, Aisha, and Jason, Rocky walked over to Katherine and Alexis, who hovered along the perimeter of the medical area of the CAC, attempting to keep out of the way.

"Are you two alright?" he asked them. Both girls nodded.

"Have you heard anything from Kim?" asked Alexis, sitting down in exhaustion, "Tommy's time is nearly up!"

"They haven't contacted us," Rocky answered, glancing over at Billy who was while scanning Jason with a pair of X-Ray goggles for internal injuries. "And the scanners are having a hard time picking up any life signs from the Moon at all. All we can register is that the Thunderbird is still parked on the Moon, but we have no way of knowing where Kim, Annie, Nate, and Tommy are."

"I hope they're okay," Kat whispered, sitting beside Alexis.

Chapter Sixteen

Inside the Moon Palace, Kimberly Hart and the Yellow Ranger ran through the tunnels in search of any sign of life. Usually, any intruders would be attacked immediately by Zedd's monsters, or the Viper Putties. However, since Zedd's disappearance, the monsters that usually filled the castle had all fled in fear of the wrath of Solar. Even Goldar and Rito now cowered in utter terror, hiding somewhere on the lunar surface. Kim stopped running abruptly, rubbing her temples with her fingers.

"What's the matter?" asked Annie, turning around to look at her younger self.

"I...I don't know. Something's happening, though. I'm picking up a lot of psychic energy. I think it's Nate! He's in trouble!"

"Well, let's hurry and find Tommy. Then, we can go help Nate."

"Do we even have a clue which way to go?" Kim moaned. "It's hopeless, and Tommy's time is probably up!"

"Calm down, Kim," said Annie, more calmly than she felt. "We'll find him.

Kim subconsciously reached out to Tommy with her mind...*Tommy, where are you?*

She was startled when she heard a weak response...*Kim? Is that you?*

"Tommy!" she cried out loud, turning to face Annie, "I heard him telepathically!"

"Do you know where he is?" asked Annie.

"No, but I can feel that he's close. C'mon, follow me!"

Kimberly dashed through the hallway, with Annie beside her. Annie noticed Kim was practically glowing gold with psionic power, and soon she was airborne.

Well, she certainly is a powerful psi when she wants to be!

thought Annie, following a bit behind Kimberly on foot.

Kimberly rounded a final corner, stopping when she saw a iron door lying on the floor, bent and banged out of shape. Starting to panic, she hurried into the dark room. The only light was a weak red glow, coming from a machine connected to the lab table.

"Tommy!" cried Kimberly, running to his side. She gently touched his neck, and breathed a little easier that she found a pulse, albeit a weak one. She winced when she saw burn marks through Tommy's torn shirt, as well as various other bruises. She stared at the wires connecting Tommy to the machine, and they were still crackling with red energy.

Somehow, he managed to fight off the process long enough to give us time to save him,

she thought, her eyes starting to glass over. He held onto the last flicker of life energy. But how do I disconnect him? And how do I replenish the power stolen from him?

She turned around as the room became filled with bright yellow light. The Yellow Ranger walked in, both her fists glowing and crackling with lightning. She glanced at Tommy, and then at the machine that he was connected to.

"Hmm," she said. "The energy is being siphoned from his body into this machine, so there must be some kind of storage cell for that stolen energy. A battery or something..."

Annie took off her helmet and laid it on the floor. She then looked over the entire machine, and a small gemstone, now glowing with red energy, caught her observant eye.

"Solar must have been transferring the Zeo energy into this crystal!" said Annie, turning to her younger counterpart. "Quick, Kim, we have to re-energize the Zeo shard."

"But how?" asked Kim, trying her best to remain calm.

"Reverse the process! No wait, he may be too weak for that."

"So what do we do?" whispered Kim, biting her lip.

"You know how the energy of the Zeo crystal works, right? Then maybe you can separate Tommy from the crystal telepathically!"

"If I could force Tommy to surrender the Zeo shard, then so could Solar, and he obviously couldn't."

"Okay, then ask Tommy to release the crystal telepathically. You can still reach him."

Kimberly touched Tommy's forehead and closed her eyes. She cleared her mind of everything -- except reaching Tommy. She called out to his subconscious.

*Tommy, do you hear me?*

*Kim...what're you doing in my head?*

came the reply.

*I'm a telepath, silly! Listen, I'm here to help you, but you must separate from the crystal.*

*Why?*

*Because we have to restore its stolen energies, and your body is too weak to survive the power transfer. It will be just as excrutiating as when the power was being stolen from you.*

*I don't think I have the strength to command the gem, Kim.*

*Tommy, you have to! It's your only chance! Please, Tommy, try!*

Kimberly could feel Tommy's determination, and when she opened her eyes, she saw Tommy's chest glow a faint red. The red light became brighter, and the Zeo crystal shard passed through his charred skin and floated into Kimberly's palm. She clutched it excitedly and stepped over to Annie, who was examining the machine while still holding the other gemstone.

"If I remember correctly," she thought out loud, "Tommy punched the control panel to free me. It was dumb luck, but it worked. Now, there must be some sort of reversal button here somewhere, or else it wouldn't have worked. Ah, here it is."

"But, what about Tommy?"

"Disconnect him from the machine, and then absorb the crystal into your body. Tommy is too weak to survive the energy transfer, but you're not. We have to reverse the process, and that means the crystal must be inside a person. We can't connect the two crystals directly."

Kimberly mutely obeyed Annie's command. She sounded like she knew what she was talking about, after all. Kim telekinetically lifted Tommy off the lab table after disconnecting him from the machine. After gently lying him on the floor, she held the red Zeo shard on her heart.

"I need Terra Power...NOW

!!" she cried. She gasped when she felt the crystal pass through her body, and suddenly she was wearing the feminine version of the Red Terran Ranger uniform.

"I feel so...strange

," said Kim dazedly, taking off her helmet. "It's like I'm...so much stronger than I ever was before. And I feel so...angry

all of the sudden."

"Well, your emotional state is being manipulated by the Zeo shard," said Annie, placing the other crystal into the machine and helping Kimberly lie down on the lab table. "Fire is symbolic of passionate and strong emotions. You are presently angry about what happened to Tommy, so the crystal is magnifying your current feelings. Now, un-morph, and brace yourself. This is gonna be painful."

Kim nodded and mentally commanded her body to un-morph. She lay mutely on the table, quickly glancing over at Tommy, who lay utterly motionless and pale as a ghost on the cold stone floor.

*Don't worry, Tommy*,

she whispered telepathically to him, *I'll take care of it. You'll be just fine. I promise...*

Kim was surprised and worried that she didn't hear any response from him. She frowned and looked up to Annie.

"Ready?" asked Annie, her hand on the switch.

"Yes. And hurry, Tommy and Nate both don't have much time left."

Annie activated the machine in reverse, and Kimberly writhed in pain as she felt her heart flooded with fire.

Chapter Seventeen

Nate Grey was the mighty X-Man. He was genetically engineered to be the most powerful mutant to ever live, and in some ways, he may be. But now, he faced the creature that had caused him a great deal of pain. Now, on the Astral Plane, the place where he usually felt the most safe and in control, he battled for his very life against Onslaught...and he was losing.

He wasn't battling Solar -- he was actually battling Onslaught. Onslaught separated from the body of Trevor Monroe, causing him to be transported to the Astral Plane, where telepathic powers suddenly became tangible. He was in his astral form, one that looked much like Onslaught's body before Hulk destroyed it -- a towering ten foot tall mass of red and purple armor, massive claws, and soulless eyes.

Nate was also in his astral form -- a shimmering sapphire suit of armor, but even though Roma helped him navigate the Multiverse earlier, it left its toll on his abilities. He had yet to fully recover his strength. As he fought, he knew he wouldn't get the chance.

If I can just keep him here long enough,

he reasoned, Annie and Kim can save Trevor, and Kim should be able to create psionic shields in Trevor's mind, which will break whatever hold Onslaught has on his body. Too bad I didn't get a chance to tell her how to do it!

The battleground was a barren, rocky wasteland, with an orange sky and red clouds. Here, everything could be manipulated by telepathy, including the scenery. Onslaught created this particular image to startle Nate, since it was an image of the Midwestern states of his home world, after a nuclear bomb was detonated there.

"Once I destroy you here," sneered Onslaught, shooting a beam of psionic power, "I shall occupy your body instead of that weak human's! Then, I shall be the most powerful being to ever exist! Even Roma will not be able to stand up to my telepathic might! You and I will destroy a great many worlds, Boy!"

"Never!" cried Nate, creating a shield out of psionic power to deflect Onslaught's attack. "After all you've done to the world, and the Multiverse, do you really think I'll let you survive this?"

"Do you even have a hope of stopping me?" chided Onslaught, launching himself at Nate, "I can see into your mind, boy. You are too tired to keep me out completely. I can feel your insecurity, your doubts. You know you cannot defeat me! I have no body to call my own, so my entire essence is here on the Astral Plane! You, on the other hand, are anchored to your body, so you can't experience the total freedom I have here! I am invincible!"

"One thing's for sure," said Nate smartly, "You certainly talk a lot. Just like any other tyrant. Hitler, Stalin -- always talking, always threatening. You're just full of it!"

"How dare you compare me to those weak humans?!" roared Onslaught, swatting Nate away with a psionic broadsword, "I am the one and only Onslaught! I am the most powerful being alive! I can destroy you with but a thought, little man!"

Suddenly, Onslaught disappeared.

"Oh, crap," said Nate. "He went back to Trevor's body! I've gotta follow!"

But when Nate tried to re-enter his own body, he still found himself on the Astral Plane.

"Double crap!! He's trapped me on the Astral Plane! If he kills my body while I'm here, I'll be trapped in an interdimensional limbo! I've only got one chance..."

Chapter Eighteen

Kimberly was still bathed with the fiery red light of Tommy's Zeo shard when she felt a mental tug.

*Tommy? Is that you?*

she asked, hoping he had awaken.

*Kimberly, its me, Nate. Where are you?*

*Finster's lab.*

*Did you save Tommy?*

*We're working on it. What's up?*

*You have to hurry, Kimberly. I was battling Onslaught on the Astral Plane, but he split and trapped me here somehow. Now he's back in Trevor's body, and my body is lying on the ground completely unprotected. If he kills me now, I'll be trapped in an interdimensional limbo.*

*Like Zordon?*

*WHO?!*

*Nevermind. We'll be there ASAP!*

Kim opened her eyes and saw the red light die down. Also, the horrible pain she was enduring had lessened.

"It worked Kim!" said Annie excitedly. "You did it! The red Zeo shard is charged. You okay?"

Kimberly tried to speak, but her lips didn't seem to move. She tried another approach.

*Annie, listen to me. I don't know what's wrong, but I can't move a muscle in my body!*

"It must be the strain of the transfer," said Annie, answering Kim's telepathic call verbally.

*You've got to go to the throne room and save Nate! Solar is about to kill him! I'll be fine.*

Annie looked at Kim in surprise, and then her face hardened into a serious frown. She snapped on her Yellow Ranger helmet and ran out the lab, as quickly as possible. When she left, Kimberly relaxed a little and once again tried to move.

I've got to give Tommy back his Zeo shard! He's so weak now!

*Tommy*

she called. *Are you still with me?*

When Tommy didn't answer, she started to panic.

*TOMMY?! PLEASE!*

Her eyes started to water as she tried desperately to move. Although some of the feeling had returned to her arms and legs, she still couldn't move.

*Tommy,*

she said more calmly, *you can't leave me. I won't let you! Answer me!*

*Kim,*

whispered Tommy mentally, *I'm so...tired...*

*Hang on, Tommy! We NEED

you!*

Kim panicked as she felt his mind slipping into oblivion. Using every nuance of energy within her, she mentally pulled the red Zeo shard from her body. She telekinetically directed the gem to Tommy, who lay on the stone floor not to far from her. She once again called to him.

*Tommy, listen to me. I can save you, but you need to stay with me. I can't force the Zeo shard into you -- you have to accept it. Do you hear me? Tommy?!*

*Hurry*

came the weak response.

Kimberly immediately steered the gem to Tommy's heart, just as Nate had done to her after her seizure. Tommy accepted the power, allowing the shard passage through his scalded chest. The shard, now intangible, took its place inside Tommy's heart, pumping power into every artery in his system. Immediately, Tommy felt invigorated and alive. Still, he was brutally wounded, and found it difficult to stand up. He managed to pull himself off the floor, and leaned on the lab table with Kimberly still lying on it. She looked up at him with glassy eyes, and even managed to crack a slight smile. Tommy looked down at her, and smiled back.

*Are you okay?*

she asked him.

"I'm fine. Or at least I will be, once we get back to Earth and Billy runs me through the med-unit. How 'bout you? Are you okay?"

*I can't move yet, but otherwise I'm peachy.*

Tommy gently took Kim's hand and held it between his.

"Thanks, Kim," he whispered.

*For what?*

"For everything. For saving my life, for being there for me, for...for giving me something to live for. You've made such a difference in my life. I...I owe you."

*Oh, Tommy, you don't owe me anything. You've saved my life dozens of times! And you've made my life feel...complete

.*

Kimberly felt embarrassed after so easily divulging her innermost thoughts through the psionic link. But her embarrassment was quickly replaced with fear as she remembered Nate's present circumstance.

*Tommy!*

she cried mentally, *Nate's in trouble! Go to the throne room and help Annie! She can't beat Solar by herself!*

"But, what about you--"

*I'll be fine, GO!*

Tommy hesitated, kissed Kim gently on the forehead, and stood back.

"It's Morphin Time!" he cried, raising his arms to the sky, "TERRA FIRE POWER!!"

In a flash of fiery red light, Tommy became the Red Ranger, and quickly ran down the hall. Kimberly watched him go, and smiled to herself.

Chapter Nineteen

Annie had reached the throne room just in time to see Solar stand up from his throne. He was shaky on his feet, and a little disoriented from having to once again adjust to two minds being inside one body. This gave Annie enough time to reach Nate.

"Hold it right there, Solar!" she yelled authoritatively. "You're through causing trouble."

"Well, if it isn't the little Yellow Ranger," said Solar, his eyes glowing pure gold and his mouth contorted into a frightful smirk, "I suppose you came here to save you're little boyfriend. Well, too late! By now, the machine has done its job, and the Red Ranger is a memory! So, what are you gonna do now, Kimmy? Cry over the loss of your love?"

Annie was furious at his cold remarks. However, she couldn't bring herself to attack Solar, since she was staring at the face of her beloved husband, whom she hasn't seen in two years.

"I...I didn't come here to save Tommy," she said quietly, unsnapping her helmet, "I came to rescue my husband and bring him home. Trevor, come back to me."

Solar was shocked when he saw the face of Kimberly Monroe, a stunning adult woman, as opposed to Kimberly Hart, a lovely and perky teenager. He was so shocked that for a brief instant, Trevor seemed to surface. His eyes became aqua, and this golden aura of power seemed to die down. He fell to his knees, tears forming in his aqua eyes.

"K -- Kim?" he asked hoarsely, looking up at her. "Is it really you? Are you MY

Kim?"

"Yes, Trev," she said quietly, kneeling beside him and embracing him lovingly. "It's me."

"This isn't some kind of sick joke?" he asked, his voice shaking with disbelief.

"Its really me," she said, breaking the embrace and looking him in the eyes. She reached beneath the collar of her Terran Ranger uniform and pulled out the gold lightning bolt locket that Tom gave her before her departure into the past. She opened it to reveal two small photos.

"See? These are the two people who mean the world to me. My husband and --"

"Tony!" cried Trevor, his eyes shining with love. "My God, he's gotten so -- big

!"

"Trev," she said softly, "you've been missing for two years. He's four now."

Since Trevor was in conscious control, Onslaught was forced to drop his barrier around the Astral Plane in order to re-assert himself. Nate came into consciousness just in time to see the aqua in Solar's eyes being slowly replaced by an eerie golden glow.

"Kim!" he cried. "Look out!"

But Nate's cry was too late, for Solar had already telekinetically tossed the woman into the wall, fifty feet away. She crashed into the wall at blinding speed, striking her back and bare head against the stone wall. She slumped into a heap against the wall, blood trickling down her temples and the corner of her mouth. The Red Ranger ran into the room just in time to see the Yellow Ranger slam into the wall, and looked in horror as she lay deathly still. Behind his red and gold helmet, his eyes were glowing red.

"Monroe!" he cried fiercely, throwing his body into Solar's like a cannon ball. "Do you realize what you've just done?! You killed your WIFE

!!"

While Solar and the Red Ranger wrestled across the stone floor, Nate checked on Annie.

She's alive at least, but she needs treatment!

*Kim, can you hear me?*

Downstairs, in Finster's lab, Kimberly was sitting up on the lab table, shaking out her legs. Although she could move them, she knew they wouldn't support her weight. She heard Nate's call.

*Yes, I hear you. What's happening?*

*Kim, do you know anything about the Astral Plane?*

*Only a little. Zordon told us that's where he is, because his body was destroyed while his mind was on the Astral Plane. I've never been there, though.*

*Well, Kim, I'm gonna give you a crash course in battle on the Astral Plane! I think Tommy's managing to pull Trevor's consciousness to the foreground, which will make Onslaught weaker. If I can pull him onto the Astral Plane and destroy him there, then we're done! But I don't think I can do it alone. He already beat me there earlier. Are you ready?*

*Ready for wha --?*

Before she could finish her thought, she could feel her body grow numb. She fell back on the lab table, her legs and arms dangling off the sides. Suddenly, her vision blurred, and when it cleared, she was standing on a barren wasteland.

"Where am I?" she asked aloud.

*You're on the Astral Plane*

said Nate telepathically, *I'll be there with you shortly. First, you'd better put some armor on. Vision yourself with some kind of armor on.*

Kimberly looked down at herself. She was entirely gold, as if she was made of golden energy. She then noticed she wasn't wearing clothes. Her face turned a brighter shade of gold.

"Armor..." she said, thinking hard. When she opened her eyes, she found herself wearing a glittering gold armored costume, much like that of Xena: Warrior Princess

. She had the breastplate, boots, skirt, shoulderpads, and instead of a sword, she was holding a long bow.

"Practical and fashionable," she commented proudly, gripping her energy bow, "I think I may like this Astral Plane!"

Meanwhile, Nate stepped away from Annie, and telepathically reached into Solar's head. Solar froze as Nate invaded his mind, and therefore couldn't dodge a powerful jab to his face from the Red Ranger. Solar's body crumpled to the floor in a daze, and Onslaught's essence once again took form on the Astral Plane. Kimberly watched in mute horror as a cloud of purple and red fog formed into the towering and monstrous form of Onslaught.

"Now that's something I wouldn't wanna meet in a dark alley," Kim muttered with disgust.

Onslaught turned to face his new enemy, his eyes glowing in golden power. Kim shrunk back.

"So," he scoffed, "Nate sent his little apprentice to fight me. Now that's a laugh! How do you, a rank amateur, plan on defeating me, the most powerful telepath in existence, on the Astral Plane? You couldn't even beat me in the real world. Here, the advantage is mine!"

Kimberly stood defiantly and pulled back on the drawstring of her bow. "Eat psionic energy, Creep," she muttered, releasing an arrow crackling with golf energy. She was shocked as Onslaught caught the arrow and tossed it aside like a toothpick.

"Uh, oh," she whispered as Onslaught dove at her.

Chapter Twenty

In the throne room, Tommy removed his helmet and looked around in surprise. He saw Solar's body, lying still beside the throne. Annie was still crumpled and motionless, and Nate was barely conscious, rubbing his temples vigorously. Tommy ran to Nate and knelt beside him.

"What did you do to him?" he asked, pointing to Solar, "I know my punch isn't that strong."

"I...I sent Onslaught to the Astral Plane," he explained in a voice barely above a whisper, "It takes a lot of effort to force a body onto the plane, and I just forced two. Give me a minute."

"What do you mean two?" asked Tommy. Then his jaw dropped. "You don't mean--"

"I sent Kimberly to the Astral Plane."

"You did what

?!" cried Tommy enraged. "So you're telling me she's trapped there with that monster, all by herself!"

"Not for long," said Nate, standing up, "I'm going to join her there."

Nate walked over to the throne and sat down. Tommy followed.

"I'll go with you," he said, folding his arms over his chest.

"Impossible. You'd be powerless there -- the only super ability that can be utilized in the Astral Plane is psionic. Stay here and keep an eye on Annie and Trevor. Now that Onslaught is no longer in his body, he may awaken soon. Make sure nothing happens to either my or Kimberly's body while we're gone."

With that, Nate closed his eyes, and his body slumped lifeless into the throne. His body reformed in the Astral Plane, encased in his full body sapphire armor. He watched from a high vantage point for a moment as Kimberly battled Onslaught.

She's a pretty fast learner,

he thought to himself. He then noticed Kim's armor. Someone sure watches a lot of television, he chuckled to himself. Okay, time to do some damage!

Nate leaped to the ground, landing about three yards behind Onslaught, who was advancing on Kim while firing a deadly barrage of psionic bullets. Kim was so busy deflecting them by twirling her bow like a baton, that she didn't notice Nate's stealth entrance.

"So, little girl," mocked Onslaught, moving closer to Kim, "are you prepared to die?"

Before Kim could answer, Onslaught suddenly fell forwards, his head landing mere inches from Kim's feet. She looked first at her downed opponent and the gray smoke that floated from his back, and then behind him, where she saw Nate clad in a shimmering blue armor.

"Took ya long enough!" she said in mock anger, leaping over Onslaught to land beside Nate. "So, is he dead?"

"I doubt it," said Nate, holding his head in his hands. "That was the most powerful psionic blast I could muster, but Onslaught is practically indestructable. This isn't over yet."

Suddenly, Onslaught's body became immersed in a powerful gold light, so bright that it momentarily blinded the two heroes. When the light died down, Onslaught stood before them, now towering twenty feet high as opposed to his previous stature of ten feet.

"What happened?" whispered Kim in horror.

"He's drawing power from the Astral Plane itself!" answered Nate, his voice tainted with awe as well as disbelief, "He has existed on the Astral Plane for so long, he knows how to manipulate it! I don't know how he managed it, but he did!"

Onslaught stepped towards them, each step shaking the rocky ground mercilessly. Nate and Kim mutually decided on a strategic retreat, running as quickly as possible away from the towering monster.

"So, what do we do now?" panted Kimberly.

"I'm thinking!" yelled Nate in frustration. "Just keep moving! To the cliffs!"

The two heroes ran towards the cliff, and in a few mighty and graceful leaps, they were at the top of the rock form.

"Wow," said Kim, "I'm even more agile here than when I'm morphed!"

"I don't know how much climbing this rock will slow him down," said Nate, looking down the cliff for Onslaught. "He's gone!"

"Uh...Nate," said Kim quietly, tapping his shoulder and staring in the other direction, "it didn't slow him down at all."

Nate spun around, and saw the monstrous figure that stood behind him.

"I'm through playing games," said Onslaught, firing a massive beam of energy. Both Kim and Nate managed to put on shields to block the energy barrage, but the attack was relentless, and it slowly pushed them closer and closer to the edge.

"You really got yourself between a rock and a hard place this time, X-Man!" cried Onslaught triumphantly.

Chapter Twenty-One

The Red Ranger paced around the throne room in frustration. It felt like hours since Nate went into the Astral Plane, and there was no way for Tommy to tell if his friends were winning against impossible odds or not. He had carried Kimberly's lifeless body into the throne room, and laid it carefully on the floor. Now, three unconscious bodies lay on the stone floor, and Nate was still slumped in Lord Zedd's throne. Tommy had tried to find medical supplies in Finster's lab, to treat Annie's and Trevor's injuries, but there wasn't any. Not really much of a surprise, considering monsters don't survive fights, and therefore never need medical help. Tommy, whose broken ribs had started to irritate him again, sat down and painfully clutched his chest.

So long as I draw on the Power, I'll be able to function,

he thought to himself, but I'm not sure if I'm doing any more damage to my ribs. I doubt rolling around the room wrestling Solar was good for me. I really oughta think before I act...

Tommy was startled out of his reverie by a low groan. He looked up and saw Solar sit up slowly, his hand lightly touching his nose. He drew back his hand, seeing it tainted with blood.

"My nose is bleeding," he said in a somewhat nasal voice. "What's happening here?"

Solar stood up painfully, stretching his back. He looked down at himself, and saw the red, blue, white, and gold armor.

"What the hell am I wearing?" he asked aloud, looking around in confusion. His eyes locked with those of a young man with long brown hair, wearing a red Power Ranger uniform.

"Are you alright, Trevor?" asked Tommy quietly.

"I...I don't understand what's going on here..." he admitted, blinking. "Last thing I remember, I was in my bedroom, going over some papers for a case, and then I saw a gold light --"

Trevor shut up when he saw two unconscious women laying side by side on the cold ground. His jaw dropped as he hurried to get a closer look.

"KIM!!"

he cried, dropping to his knees beside Annie. He touched her neck gently to find a pulse, and then lightly touched her forehead. He then glanced at the other girl, and did a double take.

"KIM?!"

he cried, this time in disbelief. He leaned over to study the features of the young woman wearing a mid-drift and shorts. She looks exactly like the Kim I met years ago...

Trevor turned around and stared at Tommy, his eyes filled with anger, confusion, and pain.

"What the #$%@

is going on here?!" he roared, approaching the Red Ranger. Tommy stood up to face the older man eye to eye.

"Why am I wearing this ridiculous costume? Where are we? What happened to my WIFE

? Who is that girl? Who are YOU

?! You're too young to be a Power Ranger! And why is Kim wearing the Yellow Ranger costume?"

Tommy's eyes widened at the last question. "She never told you?" he asked incredulously.

"Told me what?" asked Trevor angrily. Tommy sighed to himself.

"This is going to take a while," he started, walking over to both Kims, "and since everyone else is out cold, it looks like we have the time. This is February in the year 1997. You've been transported into the past. Your last memory was of the gold light, right?"

"Right."

"What was the date of that, if you don't mind?"

"Uh...February 18, 2007. You expect me to believe that this is ten years in the past?!"

"Actually, it's twelve years from your time. You see, that golden light sent you to the Astral Plane, where a being called Onslaught bonded with your body, creating the super villain called Solar. You have existed as Solar for two years now."

Trevor looked absolutely dumfounded, and Tommy sighed again.

"Okay, maybe I should start from the VERY

beginning. I'm Tommy Oliver, and I believe you've met my older self."

Trevor's eyes widened, and his chin dropped.

"I knew you looked familiar!" he declared. "So, you're a Power Ranger, Tom?"

"Yes. And so is Kimberly, your...wife." Tommy had difficulty uttering the last word.

Trevor looked back to see his injured wife. His eyes glassed over slightly as he once again knelt beside her and stroked her golden-brown hair.

"What happened to her?" he asked quietly, looking up at Tommy. "Who did this to her?"

Tommy looked down to the stone floor, not wanting to look at Trevor's pained eyes. He really does love her,

he thought, I can't tell him the truth! If someone told me that I'd caused Kim any harm whatsoever, I'd probably jump off the nearest cliff! How would he take it?

"Uh," said Tommy aloud, "Onslaught did it. Don't worry, though, she should be okay. As long as we get her back to Earth pronto."

"So, what are we waiting for?" asked Trevor, rising to his feet, "Let's go!"

"We can't! Not without Nate and Kimberly."

Trevor arched one eyebrow, and looked to the throne. "Is that Nate?"

"Yes."

"And that girl there is the Kimberly you're referring to, right? Or are there more Kims running around here?"

"No, that's her."

"So why aren't we leaving?! They're both right here!!"

Tommy looked at Trevor as he thought, and mentally slapped his forehead. Of course! Why should we wait for them? If we bring their bodies to Earth with us, when they get done in the Astral Plane, they'll return to their bodies anyway! Duh! But, how did they get here? I was kidnapped by Holocaust, but I don't know about the others. Could they have teleported?

"Billy?" asked Tommy into his wrist communicator. "Do you read me?"

Since Onslaught was busy battling Nate and Kimberly in the Astral Plane, he was no longer keeping a psionic barrier around the Moon Palace. Also, Zedd and Rita were gone too, along with their magic shields. There was nothing to prevent the signal from reaching the CAC.

^Tommy?^

cried Billy's voice in shock. ^You're alive!^

^We've been really worried about you!^

said Alexis' voice. ^Your time was up over an hour ago!^

"Yeah, I know. Kim and Annie managed to save me."

^How are you, Bro?^ asked Jason's voice.

"None the worse for wear," he said. "Well, except for a few minor injuries."

^How 'bout Kim and the others?^

asked Aisha's voice.

"Well, Ki--uh, Annie is really hurt. Trevor's fine, and I think Nate and Kim are okay. They're fighting Onslaught on the Astral Plane. They're unconscious. Billy, can you teleport us back?"

The communicator was silent for a few moments, and then Billy's voice returned.

^Yes, I think I can. The shield surrounding the Moon is completely gone. Even the weaker shields Zedd and Rita usually have up are gone. It should be as easy as falling off a log. But, I don't know if the teleporter has enough power to bring back the Thunderbird.^

"What's the Thunderbird doing on the Moon?" asked Tommy in surprise.

^Solar had a psionic shield surrounding the entire Moon. The only way for them to reach the Moon without being detected was to fly there in a ship equipped with psionic cloaks.^

"Can I fly Kim's zord?"

^No, you can't. It will only activate to the voice-print of the Yellow Ranger.^

^But, didn't you create a device to let anyone fly the machine?^

asked Katherine's voice. ^After all, that's how Annie was able to fly the ship. Right?^

^Well, it's not as simple as that. I device was...specially designed for Annie. It won't work with Tommy. Anyway, Tommy, I'll teleport the five of you first, and then wait for the transporter to build up enough power to bring the Thunderbird home. Prepare to teleport.^

Tommy turned off the communicator and put his helmet back on. He then carefully lifted the teenaged Kimberly into his arms and walked over to the throne. Trevor, who had heard the entire conversation, gently lifted his wife in like manner, and stood on the other side of the throne. The five people vanished in beams of red, blue, yellow, gold, and aqua light. In seconds, the five rematerialized in the Central Access Complex, with Nate still sitting on Zedd's throne.

"Oops," said Billy sheepishly, "I guess Nathan's signal intermixed with the throne he was sitting on."

"Better than having him collapse on the floor," said Adam, as he and Rocky lifted Nate off the throne and laid him on one of the cots. Tommy gently lay Kim on another one.

"Mister Monroe, please place Annie on this bed here," said Billy, pointing to the med unit. Trevor did as he was asked, wondering why Billy called her "Annie"

instead of "Kimberly"

. Billy immediately un-morphed her, and began scanning her injuries with several devices, under Trevor's surveilance. He also managed to keep her identity hidden from the others by shielding her face with the brain-scanner.

Adam and Rocky watched over Kim and Nate, who lay motionless, but uninjured.

Kat, Aisha, Alexis and Jason were unmorphed, sitting in a corner out of everyone's way. Aisha had bandages wrapping her stomach, and Jason's arm was in a sling. Katherine had a few scratches, and Alexis was slightly bruised, but both were otherwise unharmed. Tommy walked over to them, removing his helmet.

"What happened to you guys?" he asked quietly, taking a seat beside Jason.

"Holocaust," answered Alexis in a low growl.

"Yeah," said Jason. "He got me good on the shoulder. Aisha had a serious cut on her side, and Zack was in a coma. He's asleep now, though. Billy fixed his most grievous injuries, gave him a clean bill of health and teleported him home. He's out of the danger zone, and both his parents work late. When they get home, they'll find Zack sleeping peacefully. I think he also had a broken leg, but the med-unit regenerated the bone. He may limp a little for a day or two, but other than that, he's fine."

"Wow," said Tommy, "that med-unit is impressive. Good thing Zordon left it for us."

"Tommy," asked Katherine quietly, "are you sure you're okay?"

"Well, compared to what you guys went through, I'm fine. I broke a couple of ribs, but so long as I'm morphed, I can manage. When Billy gets done with Annie, he can fix me up."

"But what about your powers?" Kat continued, "Solar was draining your powers in the same way that Zedd drained Kimberly's. You were pretty banged up, too."

"Trust me, I'll live," said Tommy with a smile.

Adam and Rocky then came over to them.

"Okay, Tommy," he said. "You said you had broken ribs, right? Well, Annie is in critical condition, so she probably won't be off the med-unit for a while. I'll try to mend your ribs with the hand-held regenerator. I'll warn you, though, it takes longer than the med-unit, and it hurts."

"It can't be worse than having your rib scratch at your lungs," muttered Tommy, following Adam to another cot. He un-morphed, and suddenly collapsed to his knees. Adam and Rocky both helped him up, while the others stared in surprise. Jason, Alexis, and Kat leaped to their feet and ran to check on their leader. Aisha would have, but her injury still inhibited most movement.

"What happened?" asked Alexis.

"The only thing keeping him up was the Zeo shard!" said Adam, running a scanner over Tommy's heart. "Somehow, it charged his system, like a rush of adrenaline. When he un-morphed, that surge of power faded, making him extremely weak. But, he's stable. He'll be okay."

Alexis, Katherine, and Jason relaxed a little at Adam's reassurance. They returned to their seats beside Aisha, feeling helpless and frustrated.

"Man, I hate waiting," muttered Jason.

"There's nothing we can do to help," said Kat, gently taking his hand. "We can't join the fight against Onslaught."

"She's right," said Alexis, running her hands through her red hair. "It's all up to Nathan and Kimberly now."

Chapter Twenty-Two

The energy barrage Onslaught released on Kimberly and Nate managed to push them off the cliff. Kim screamed as she fell, but Nate stayed silent, his eye glowing yellow. Both of them slowed significantly, and landed safely on the ground below.

"Nice trick," said Kim, helping Nate to his feet, "I didn't realize we could use conventional TK here."

"It takes a lot of concentration," he said, rubbing his temples.

Kimberly looked up to see the massive form of Onslaught on the cliff. It began glowing its trademark gold, and slowly descended. Nate grabbed Kimberly by the arm, and together they once again began to run.

"What do we do now?" asked Kim.

"You said Zordon was trapped on the Astral Plane, right?"

"Yes." answered Kim.

"Is he a telepath? Does he have mental powers?"

"I don't know. He's a big floating head!"

"Okay. Have you ever contacted him telepathically?"

"Uh...no. He left Earth long before I became a telepath. Why?"

"I'm gonna be honest with ya, Kim. I don't think we'll be able to defeat him without help, and I don't have any telepathic allies in this universe whom I can contact easily. Is Zordon the only one you know who has access to the Astral Plane?"

"Yes. But I don't know if I can contact him from here!"

They continued to run, and the distance between them and Onslaught increased. Onslaught began hurling psionic rays at the two retreating figures.

"We're running out of options, here. Do you think you can reach Zordon from the real world?"

"Billy probably could. Is there any way you or I could reach one of the rangers?"

"Have you ever mentally communicated with any of them? You know them better than I do, and since I've never mind-spoken with them, they may simply reject my call."

"Can you hold off Onslaught for a few minutes? I'll give it a try."

Kimberly continued to run, as Nate stopped in his tracks. He turned around quickly to face the approaching behemoth. He created a lance out of psionic energy, and stood to fight the beast. Onslaught cackled madly.

"Do you really think you can stand up to me, X-Man?" he roared, "I am invincible!"

"We've gone down that road before. Let's see how you manage in a fair fight."

Onslaught smiled, revealing enormous fangs, and swung his clawed hand. Nate blocked the attack and countered with a swing of the lance. Boy, I'm lucky Will taught me how to use this!

Kimberly stopped running when she could no longer see Onslaught or Nate. Still, she heard Onslaught's roars, as well as Nate's smart-aleck comments. She closed her eyes and concentrated on one thing -- Tommy. Last time she had done this, he had heard her thoughts, despite the fact that she was without the aid of the yellow Zeo shard. Hopefully, she could manage to reach him again, even though they are on two totally different planes of existence.

Chapter Twenty-Three

In the CAC, Tommy lay unconscious while Adam had finished mending his ribs with the regenerator. In his feverish dream, Tommy saw himself sitting alone by the lake in Angel Grove Park -- the lake where he went whenever he needed solace. In the still waters, he saw Kimberly dressed in a flowing white gown, walking down an aisle beside her father. At the altar was a young blonde man with aqua-blue eyes and a euphoric smile. His stomach wretched when the two of them kissed at the permission of the minister, sealing a pact before God and men, to be together forever. Tommy sat alone on the bank of the lake, completely powerless to stop the events occurring on the water. He wanted to cry out, to tell her that she was the world to him, but something inside of him kept him from uttering a sound. He couldn't say what needed to be said, and now it was too late. He had lost her, to a man who better knew how to express love.

*Tommy*

came a faint whisper from the heavens. Tommy looked up to see a pulsing sphere of gold light descend from the sky and come to a stop about four feet above the surface of the lake.

"Kimberly?" he managed to choke out.

*Tommy, listen to me. This is extremely important. Nate and I are in big trouble, and we need the help of Zordon to defeat Onslaught. Please, Tommy, you must wake up and ask Billy to inform Zordon of the battle that is taking place on the Astral Plane. If Zordon knows what he's looking for, he should be able to find us. Hurry, Tommy, we can't last much longer...*

With that, the bright golden energy sphere faded into nothingness, leaving Tommy alone once again with his thoughts. The images on the pool of water vanished as well. Tommy shook his head and stood up, approaching the water.

"Enough of this!" he declared, "I've got work to do!"

Tommy dove into the clear waters of the lake, and at the same time, in the Central Access Complex, Tommy's hazel eyes fluttered open. He found himself resting peacefully on a cot, dressed in what was left of his red shirt and cream colored shorts. He sat up, and immediately prepared himself for the fire in his chest he had become used to. However, the pain never came.

"Amazing," he whispered, touching his chest gently, "I don't feel the slightest pain!"

Adam, who was busy mending Trevor's broken nose, looked up to see his leader sitting up on his cot. Adam immediately ran to Tommy's bedside.

"You're awake!" he cried in amazement.

Tommy looked at his friend with a confused expression on his bronzed face.

"You slipped into a coma over an hour ago. I didn't know what to do since Annie is still in critical condition. You pulled out of it all by yourself!"

Tommy stretched his arms and back, still in amazement as to his miraculous recovery. He then looked around the CAC, and to his surprise, he didn't see Kat, Alexis, Jason, Aisha, or Rocky.

"What's going on?" he asked Adam. "Where are the others?"

"Well, once you slipped into a coma, Aisha had fainted. She lost a great deal of blood, and Billy said that a side effect of her using my Zeo shard is that she doesn't heal like the rest of the Terran Rangers do. He sent her home to rest, since that's all he could do. Jason, Lex, and Kat were all seriously stressed out about you, and Billy started to get annoyed at them, 'cause they were getting in his way. So, he ordered everyone home, except for me. I'm here to keep an eye on you and Trevor while Billy monitors Annie, Nate, and Kim."

"Kim!" said Tommy, standing up from the cot/ "That's what happened! Kim reached out to me and pulled me out of my coma!"

Tommy rushed past the confused Adam and hurried to Kim's still body. He clutched her small hand in his as tightly as he could without causing any harm to her.

"She said that she needed Zordon's help to defeat Onslaught," he said, turning towards Billy. "Do you think you can contact him and tell him what's been happening?"

"It shouldn't be difficult," said Billy, hurrying to the communications relay. He activated the interplanetary communications system, and after about ten minutes, Zordon appeared in the Viewing Globe.

^BILLY,^

he boomed. ^IT IS GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU. TELL ME, HOW ARE THE TERRAN RANGERS FARING AGAINST LORD ZEDD AND RITA REPULSA?^

"Rita and Zedd are at least temporarily out of the perverbial picture," explained Billy, "Solar has struck again, and it turns out that Solar is an amalgam of two independent beings -- the human Trevor Monroe, and a mutant tyrant called Onslaught. Onslaught is a mighty telepath, and at this moment, he is fighting our ally Nate Grey and Kim on the psionic plane."

^INTERESTING. I THOUGHT I FELT A STRANGE PRESENCE ON THE ASTRAL PLANE. BUT I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT KIMBERLY IS DOING THERE. SHE IS NOT A TELEPATH, THEREFORE SHE SHOULDN'T BE ABLE TO ACCESS THE PLANE.^

"Kim is a telepath," explained Tommy, "and she told me that she and Nate need help in defeating Onslaught. She said that if you knew what you were looking for, you'd be able to find it."

^THAT IS TRUE -- SINCE I NOW KNOW THAT KIMBERLY IS HERE ON THE PLANE, I CAN FIND HER, SINCE I AM FAMILIAR WITH THE PSI-PATTERNS OF ALL MY RANGERS. I SHALL ASSIST THEM AGAINST ONSLAUGHT. FAREWELL, FOR NOW.^

With that, Zordon's face disappeared from the column shown on the Viewing Globe. Both Tommy and Billy turned away from the Globe, and noticed Adam sitting on a chair, his eyes closed and his head tipped slightly. Billy smiled and jostled his friend.

"Adam," he said, "I am very grateful for your assistance here today. However, you seem tired, and since the only injured one left is Annie, I should be able to handle it without your help. Go home and get some rest."

"But, I'm fine," protested Adam, yawning. "You may need me when Kim and Nate wake up."

"Adam, we can handle it," said Tommy. "Now go home and get some sleep. That's an order!"

Adam chuckled slightly at Tommy's use of authority, and nodded his head. He activated his wrist communicator, and in a beam of white energy, he vanished from his seat.

"Guys!" cried Trevor, who was standing beside his wife, "Kim's waking up!"

Billy and Tommy hurried over to the med-unit, where the EEG read that Annie's brain waves were back to normal again. Her eyes were open, and she moaned a little as he hand absently reached for her forehead.

"What happened?" she whispered. "Where am I?"

"You're in the Central Access Complex," said Billy, running a small instrument over her forehead to see if all the damage had been healed. "What is the last thing you recall?"

"I...I was on the moon, in Zedd's palace. I was with Trevor. I was hugging him, then the whole world went blank. Trevor! Oh Gosh, where is he?"

"I'm here, Kim," he answered, leaning over the side of the cot and into her view. She squealed happily and sat up to embrace her husband tightly. Both their eyes swelled with tears of joy now that they've finally been reunited. Billy and Tommy watched quietly, smiling at the utter joy the two star-crossed lovers expressed. Tommy then wistfully turned towards the teenaged Kimberly, who was still lying still on the cot. He bowed his head slightly.

"Thank you both so much for everything," said Trevor, extending his hand. "And I'm sorry I yelled at you so much on the moon, Tommy."

"It's forgotten, Trevor," said Tommy, shaking the older man's hand.

"Kimberly, you really should remain on the med-unit for another few minutes and get some rest," suggested Billy. "You were near the brink of death, you know."

Kim nodded mutely and rested her head against the pillow on the med-unit. Billy then took Trevor by the arm and escorted him to another side of the vast CAC.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to take some scans on your brain patters, as well as DNA. I am curious as to any permanent effects being bonded to a creature like Onslaught will have on a human body. We cannot be too careful."

Trevor nodded, and in a few minutes, Billy was hard at work creating a complete medical profile on him. Tommy stood quietly on the elder Kim's bedside. Kim was still completely conscious, and noticed with ease that Tommy was upset.

"So," she said, trying to start a conversation. "How are Kim and Nate doing?"

"I don't know," he answered quietly. "They still aren't awake yet. We asked Zordon to go and help them battle Onslaught on the Astral Plane. Hopefully, him being there is turning the tables on Onslaught."

"How are you, Tommy?"

"Well, my ribs have all healed, thanks to Adam, and I'm awake and on my feet."

"You know that's not what I meant, Tommy," she said gently, "I want to know what you're feeling."

"How do you think I am, Kim?" he asked in an almost bitter voice, "I mean, before you got here, everything was fine. Then suddenly, I'm slapped in the face with the future, and I don't like it one little bit!"

"Tommy, my present isn't necessarily your future."

"What do you mean?" he asked. "You said you were from the future."

"What I meant to say was, I'm from 'a'

future. Not 'the'

future. There's a big difference. I am not the Kim you know, and there is no reason to believe that I am the woman that she will grow up to be. Our circumstances and environments have a big impact on the people we become, and you live in under entirely different circumstances that I lived in at your age."

"But that doesn't matter. All that matters is -- I'm gonna lose her. I don't know how or why, or even when, but I know I'm gonna lose her. Its only a matter of time before she realizes she doesn't love me, and that she'd be happier with Trevor Monroe, and then my whole life is over."

"Tommy, don't you think you're exaggerating a bit?"

"Do YOU

think I'm exaggerating?!" he cried, his knuckles turning white, "I love her more than anything! I'd do anything for her! Absolutely anything! And just yesterday, I thought she felt the same way about me! But now I know that's not true. Deep down, she loves someone else."

"That isn't true!" cried Kim. "She loves you! Can't you tell by the way she looks at you? By the way she talks to you? By the way she treats you? Do you know how she panicked when she thought you were dead? Do you realize the limits she pushed herself to in order to save you? If it wasn't for Kim's self-sacrificing love, you wouldn't be standing there right now."

"But what about Trevor?"

"What ABOUT

Trevor? Just because I love him, doesn't mean that she

loves him! One reason why I broke up with my Tommy is the fact that he was always quiet and reserved as regards to "us"

. I mean, I knew he loved me, but we never really defined our love, and our future together. I lived in Florida, and he lived in California. We needed more than just love to keep us together. We needed communication, plans, stuff like that. The kind of things that cement relationships together. Our relationship became so weak that a petty argument caused me to decide that maybe Tommy isn't the one for me. I looked at Trevor, and I saw something else. Maybe we could have patched things together. Then again, maybe it was beyond fixing. All I know is, in my time, we're both happy with our lives. We've both found our purposes, and we've both found love. We've found happiness in one way, you and Kim can find it in another way. Its up to you, Tommy. What can you do to insure Kim that you want to be together forever? What will you do when she leaves? Although she probably won't return to the Pan-Global Games, she'll have to go to France eventually. You don't have forever to make your move."

Tommy stood quietly and absorbed this food for thought. She's right, I guess it's my move. Do we take this relationship to the next level? Will it survive at the level its at? I need to think...

Tommy then looked again towards the teenaged Kim's limp body.

Only I won't be able to think straight until I know for sure Kim's okay!

Chapter Twenty-Four

On the Astral Plane, Nate and Kimberly stood their ground, after running for what seemed like forever. They managed to uphold their personal psionic shields, and thereby protected themselves from any extreme harm from Onslaught's attacks. However, their attacks were useless against his mighty red and purple psi-armor, and it looked like Onslaught was merely playing with them.

"There's no way I can keep this up much longer," said Kim, falling to her knees from exertion. "My shield is weakening, Nate!"

"Kim, you've gotta stay calm and focused!" ordered Nate, sweat dripping off his chin, "I can't help you!"

While Onslaught continued to fire beams of deadly psionic energy, lighting up the orange sky. Suddenly, a chasm appeared right beneath Nate, causing to fall. He managed to grab onto the side of the canyon, and held on for dear life. His psionic shield is down, and he is now helpless.

"Nate!" cried Kim, dropping her own shield and running to him. "Hang on!"

"Get out of here, Kim!" he yelled angrily. "You can't save me!"

Onslaught approached the two heroes, laughing maniacally.

"Out of my way, girl," he yelled, swatting Kimberly away like a gnat. "It is the X-Man I want."

Onslaught picked up Nate Grey and lifted him to eye-level.

"Not so cocky now, are you Boy?" he mocked, his eyes glowing gold. "Now to finish this."

Nate's psionic armor was peeled off his astral form piece by piece, leaving him unprotected from any further attacks. Then, a gold energy surrounded Nate's form, causing him to cry out in pain. The cry stirred Kimberly back to consciousness, and she forced herself to her feet.

"I...I've got to do something," she whispered, steadying herself against a boulder. "But what?"

She turned her head and studied the boulder carefully. It was about seven feet tall, and ten feet across. She wouldn't have been able to lift such a massive rock in the real world without the Zeo shard, and on the Astral Plane telekinesis was even more difficult.

"I have to try. It's Nate's only chance."

Kimberly stood back, and put her fingertips to her temples. A wide beam of gold energy projected from her forehead, and immersed the boulder completely. Then, the boulder rose about a foot off the ground. Sweat began to form on Kim's forehead, and her knees wobbled under the exertion, but she refused to drop the boulder. Suddenly, the energy around the boulder switched from gold to green, and the boulder flew at Onlsaught at blinding speed. The boulder hit Onlsaught square in the back, knocking both him and Nate into the chasm. Nate, however, floated back to the surface, encased in green light. He was unconscious, and the few bits of armor he still had on were bent by Onslaught's mighty fingers. Kim fell to her knees in exhaustion.

"Are you alright, Kimberly?" said a familiar, fatherly voice. Kim looked up, and saw a middle-aged man clad in a sparkling silver robe, and carrying what looked like a wooden staff. He was bald and pale, but his eyes shone with gentleness and concern.

"Zordon?" she gasped, taking his hand and rising to her feet. "Is that you?"

"Indeed. Billy contacted my home base in the Alpha Centauri system, and told me that you and another young telepath were fighting an extremely powerful evil on the Astral Plane. Let us check on your friend."

Kim nodded, and the two hurried over to Nate, who still lay unconscious. Kim knelt beside him and shook him gently.

"Stand back, Kimberly," ordered Zordon, lifting his staff, "I shall revive him."

Kimberly did as she was told, and a beam of bright green light shot from the staff. Nate's body floated off the ground and was bathed in the green light. In a few seconds, there was a flash of blue light coming from Nate himself, and he was once again dressed in his sapphire armor. Zordon descended Nate to the ground, and he immediately stood up and examined himself in shock.

"You...you restored all the psionic energy I used during the fight," said Nate incredulously, "bringing me back to full power. How did you do it?!"

"Like the creature you now battle, I am trapped on the Astral Plane. What you see is not merely my psionic form, but rather the only body I have. I was in a duel against Ivan Ooze on the Astral Plane, when one of his henchmen decided to kill my physical body. So, all my power was transported into my astral form, giving me a vast amount of abilities here. One is the ability to restore other psionic beings without draining my own life force."

"What about Onslaught?" asked Kim, looking over the edge of the chasm. "Is he dead?"

"I very much doubt it," said Zordon. "He is a more powerful telepath than I could ever hope to be, and since we both are trapped on the Astral Plane, we both can summon our full range of abilities. My only advantage is my vast experience on the Astral Plane. I have dwelt here for centuries, whereas Onslaught has only existed for a short period of time. Both of you, stand back and take cover. Onslaught will be back soon."

Kimberly was about to protest, but Nate grabbed her arm and led her to the base of a mountain,where they could watch the battle without being seen. They took cover, waiting for Onslaught to re-appear. Sure enough, as soon as Nate and Kim were in place, a huge blast of golden power heralded Onslaught's return. He flew out of the hole at an alarming speed, and released a roar that would terrify even the bravest lion. But Zordon didn't flinch. He stood his ground, holding out his wooden staff. Onslaught studied his new opponent curiously.

"So," said Onslaught, "Nate and his friend have called reinforcements. You cannot hope to survive this battle, old man. You power pales in comparison to my own!"

Onslaught swung his clawed hand at Zordon. Zordon deflected the attack by slapping Onslaught's approaching hand with the wooden staff. When the staff hit Onslaught, a spray of green sparks lit up the area, burning Onslaught painfully. Onslaught clutched his injured claw in his other claw, and stared at Zordon in anger and surprise.

"The only way for you to create such an attack is if you exist only on the Astral Plane, as I do." observed Onslaught.

"You are correct, Onslaught. I too am a prisoner here, so your little tricks will not cause me harm."

Onslaught's gruesome fanged mouth curled into a wicked smile. "Finally, a challenge!"

Onslaught hurled his golden energy at Zordon, who retaliated by hurling some of his own. Kimberly and Nate watched in awe at the massive amount of power the two beings displayed.

"We've got to do something!" cried Kim in frustration. "We can't just sit here and watch!"

"I know how you feel, Kim," said Nate, not taking his eyes off the battle, "but there isn't anything we can do to help!"

Kim leaned against the rock, twirling a lock of her hair over her index finger in thought. An excited smile appeared on her face as she leaped to her feet.

"Nate!" she cried. "You said that Onslaught had tapped into the energy of the Astral Plane itself when he made himself grow, right?"

"Yeah," said Nate, still not turning from the fight.

"Well, is there any way to somehow cut Onslaught off from the power he steals from the Astral Plane? Can we put some kind of shield on him, restricting his use of the plane's power?"

Nate turned around quickly and stared at Kim in amazement. He then smiled and leaped to his feet as well.

"I've never tried it, but it just might work!" exclaimed Nate. "If we contain him in a telekinetic field long enough, his connection to the plane may fade, leaving him with only his own telepathic powers. Follow me!"

Nate started to leap up the cliff towards the summit, with Kimberly right behind him. Once they reached the top, Nate looked down. As he had hoped, he had a clear view of the entire battle.

"Kim, I can't hold up such a powerful TK shield by myself for long --" he started.

"That's what I'm here for, right?" interrupted Kim with a smile. They joined hands, and their psionic energies coalesced into a bluish gold glow. The glow soon became a bubble, and it floated slowly to the ground below, where Onslaught and Zordon were at a standstill. The bubble landed on Onslaught's head, and soon his entire body was trapped within. Zordon cut off his attack in surprise as he stared at Onslaught within the bubble. Onslaught pounded against the sides of the bubble in rage, and his golden power was building. Zordon looked towards the mountain, and saw the two young telepaths hand-in-hand, concentrating fully on keeping Onslaught imprisoned. Zordon smiled with pride.

They both have done very well. Now I shall finish this.

Zordon raised his staff into the air, and then touched the bubble. The bubble took on a greenish glow, and slowly began to shrink. Onslaught roared and pounded against the collapsing surface of the bubble, but it was too strong for him to destroy. Soon, the bubble was so small that it collapsed into itself, releasing a flash of green energy as it vanished from existence. Zordon nodded once at his victory, and then floated up to the summit of the cliff, where Nate and Kimberly were both unconscious. Zordon smiled and knelt down beside them.

Young heroes tire out quickly, he thought, taking both their hands, I shall have to return them to their bodies myself.

In a flash of green light, all three beings vanished.

Chapter Twenty-Five

In the Central Access Complex, Billy and the elder Kimberly told Trevor the entire story of the Power Rangers, Onslaught, and Nate Grey. Kimberly also brought him up to date on her life the past two years, as well as Anthony's and the other rangers. Trevor sat down and held his head in his hands, having difficulty believing everything he was hearing.

"I don't believe you've been a Power Ranger all this time, and I never suspected!" said Trevor, "I'm not very observant, am I?"

"Trev, I was only an active Power Ranger about two months while I was married to you. I gave up the Power before I returned to Florida after graduation from high school. I got them back nearly ten years later, and you vanished about two months after that. This whole thing is my fault! If I had kept the Zeo crystal in my heart like I should have, you never would have been caught in that energy backlash."

"Actually Kimberly," said Billy. "You probably would have died from that energy backlash had the crystal been inside your body. You would have suffered a massive heart attack. The heart is a powerful but nonetheless delicate muscle. It cannot take that much abuse."

"It's no one's fault, Kim," said Trevor, taking her hand. "All that matters is, we're all okay. I lost two years of my life, but I would've been destroyed had I lost you instead."

Billy left the couple and went to Tommy, who was standing vigil over the young Kimberly's still body. Billy lay his hand on Tommy's shoulder reassuringly.

"She'll be fine," Billy assured, "Zordon's with her now, and he'd never let anything happen to one of his Power Rangers."

"I know," sighed Tommy. "So, what did you find out about Trevor's condition?"

"Well, there is no trace of anything residual from his bonding with Onslaught. He is Trevor Monroe again, with none of the powers and ambitions of either Onslaught or Solar. He doesn't have a single memory of what happened the past two years, and his body had actually stopped aging when the bonding occurred. It is as if Trevor were placed in some sort of stasis, so that when Onslaught was removed, he could return to his life as if nothing had ever happened."

"That's good," said Tommy, looking back at Kim. Her forehead suddenly started to glow green.

"Billy!" cried Tommy. "What's happening?!"

Billy stared in awe at the green light, and then noticed that the same light appeared on Nate's forehead. Then, a sphere of green light appeared between the two cots, forming an image of Zordon's head.

"RANGERS,"

he announced, "ONSLAUGHT HAS BEEN DESTROYED ON THE ASTRAL PLANE. NATHAN AND KIMBERLY SHOULD BE WAKING UP SOON, BUT THEY SHALL BE EXTREMELY TIRED. IN A FEW DAYS THEY SHOULD BE AS GOOD AS NEW. I MUST RETURN TO THE ALPHA CENTAURI SYSTEM. THE MACHINE EMPIRE HAS STRUCK AGAIN DURING MY ABSENCE, AND MY FLEDGLING ASTRO RANGERS NEED MY GUIDANCE. I MUST RETURN TO KEROLA IMMEDIATELY. MAY THE POWER PROTECT YOU ALL."

The glow disappeared, and Zordon's image was gone. Trevor and the older Kim hurried over to the others, and at the same time a moan came from both Nate and the young Kim. Tommy's face lit up as he saw Kim's doe eyes flutter. She looked at Tommy and smiled.

"Welcome home, Beautiful," he said quietly, holding her hand. She sat up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Thanks for staying with me, Tommy," she whispered to him.

Nate sat up in his cot, and was greeted by a hug from the elder Kim.

"Thank you so much for everything you've done, Nate," she said happily. "If it weren't for you, I never would have seen Trevor again."

"It was nothing, Kim," he said modestly, standing up. "After all, I didn't have anything planned for today anyway. Besides, I'm always game for a little adventure."

"And Onslaught is destroyed for good this time?" asked Trevor.

"Yes," said Nate with a smile. "That monster is finally history."

"Nate," asked the older Kim. "Are you ready to send us home yet?"

Nate nodded, and created a time portal. Both Trevor and Kim put their face masks on, and moved towards the portal. Trevor waved towards the three teenagers, and leaped through. Annie waved as well, and smiled reassuringly to Tommy. The portal then disappeared, leaving behind Nate, Billy, Tommy, and Kimberly.

"Well," said Nate, "my job here is done. I'd better be getting back to New York."

"How do you plan on getting there?" asked Billy.

"I guess I'll just fly," said Nate with a shrug.

"I have a better idea," said Billy, walking over to the teleporter, "I'll teleport you to New York. From there, you can fly to your headquarters."

Nate nodded in agreement, and Billy began setting the coordinates.

"Take care, Power Rangers," said Nate, waving. "If you need my help, you know where to find me."

With that, Nate vanished in a streak of navy blue light.

"By the way," said Billy to Kimberly, walking over to his desk, "Jason asked me to give this to you when you got back."

Billy handed her the yellow Zeo shard. Kim smiled and reabsorbed the gem into her heart. After the flash of gold light, she hugged Billy tightly.

"Thanks, Billy," she said. "You've really done a terrific job here in the CAC. I'm gonna miss you."

"Hey, I won't be leaving for another six months!" he chuckled. "Don't write me off yet!"

"Let's say we all go home and get some rest," suggested Tommy. "We've all had one heck of a day."

"I'll second that," said Billy, rubbing his eyes.

"Its unanimous!" said Kimberly, and the three friends teleported in streaks of white, red, and gold.

Chapter Twenty-Six

It was three in the morning in New York City, but Thomas Oliver couldn't sleep. He lay silently on the couch in the Monroe family's living room, looking down on the floor. There, he saw the sleeping form of his best friend for years -- Jason Scott Lee.

Zack Taylor, Adam Park, Will Mitchell, Rocky DeSantos, Tanya Sloan, Aisha Campbell-Drew, Trini Mitchell, and Tom's fiance Katherine Hillard were all asleep in the many guest bedrooms upstairs.

Tom and Jason decided to sleep in the living room and wait for Kimberly and Nate to return. They left about nine hours ago, and Tom was extremely worried about them. Of course, Tom was always one to worry easily, but it wasn't the same this time. This time, someone very special to him has gone on a mission taking her somewhere that for once, he couldn't follow. And there was no way to contact her, or in some way discern whether she was alright. Or even if she was still alive. The possibilities were truly endless, and they all passed through Tommy's consciousness one by one, preventing him from even relaxing -- much less sleeping.

As soon as Nate and Kim had left, Tom immediately contacted Jason in Angel Grove and told him what happened. His friends had all dropped whatever it was they were doing to come to New York to wait for Kimberly's return. Trini, Will, Rocky, Tanya and Aisha and her husband Eddie Drew were all in Angel Grove for the wedding, so Jason had called them on the telephone to tell them what happened. Those who had their non-Ranger spouses with them explained that they were going to the bachelor party/wedding shower.

Will, Aisha, Trini, and Rocky teleported with Jason, and five minutes after Tom had sent the first message to Jason, all the present and former Power Rangers were in the mansion. Of course, the only thing the group of heroes could do was wait, and that is exactly what they did. Now they all slept, except Tom. He couldn't bring himself to stop thinking about Kim, and what he would do if something had happened to her. Although they were no longer romantically involved, he still loved her deeply. He loved Kat, of course, but he loved Kim in a different way. Not quite as a sister, nor as merely a friend. Kim was more like a kindred spirit.

I'll never be able to fall asleep,

he thought angrily, I'm gonna make some tea. Maybe that will calm my nerves. No, I doubt it. I don't think even Valium will make me feel better!

Tom slipped out of the living room as quietly as a shadow, so as not to awaken Jason. He entered the kitchen, and started the kettle. He then searched for the tea bags, when a small flash of blue light from the living room drew his attention. He dropped the box of tea bags and ran into the living room, staring at a small glowing disk that had appeared on the ceiling. He watched in anticipation as the small disk got increasingly larger, until finally, two human beings dressed in colorful armor fell from the portal to the ground. Tom immediately switched on the light, and shook Jason out of his deep sleep. Jason opened his eyes, and jumped when he saw Trevor Monroe, still dressed in the red and blue armor of Solar, and Kimberly Hart-Monroe, dressed in some kind of yellow space suit. Both Tom and Jason ran to their friends, who were just now standing up.

"Kim!" cried Tommy, lifting her into the air and giving her a welcoming hug. "You're alive!"

"Of course I'm alive. Everything went great! Trevor's back, Onslaught's dead, and the young Power Rangers are all okay!"

Tom put Kim down and walked over to Trevor extending his hand.

"Welcome home, Pal," he said, shaking his hand. Trevor smiled and gave Tom a hug.

"It's great to be home."

Jason had hugged Kim also, and soon the other rangers ran down the stairs after hearing the commotion. They all embraced one another in a massive group hug. When they all parted, both Kim and Trevor were swamped with questions. The group sat down in the living room, and Trini made tea for everyone.

"So," said Tom. "What happened to Nate?"

"Nate stayed in 1997," said Kimberly, sipping the steaming tea. "That's where he belongs."

"What was it like to see yourself as a teenager, Kim?" asked Aisha.

"Well, it was weird. I mean, I kept a mask on to hide my identity from the kids, but Billy figured out who I was immediately. I had to show myself to Kim, and somehow, Tommy figured it out. It was tough, because the first thing they wanted to know is what the future held."

"You didn't tell them, did you?" asked Will. "It is very dangerous for one to know too much about his or her future."

"I told them a little," Kim admitted, "Nate had introduced me as Annie Monroe, Trevor's wife. So when Billy found out, the first question was -- 'what about Tommy?'

Then Kim had asked me the same question."

"What about me, er -- Tommy?" asked Tom. "What did he say?"

"He didn't say anything until I forced it out of him. He was angry with me."

"I can imagine," said Katherine quietly. "Were Tommy and Kim still a couple in that dimension?"

"Yes, they were, and Tommy felt that my coming was a prophecy or something, dictating that he and Kim would break up, and there was nothing he could do about it."

"Poor boy," said Trini. "It must be so horrible to be confronted with a probable future you don't want to happen."

"I told him that the future wasn't carved in stone," said Kim, "I hope he takes that to heart."

"Guys," said Trevor, standing up and stretching, "I'm really exhausted. I think I'll turn in."

Trevor bent down and kissed his wife, and then slowly ascended the stairs. He was still wearing the Solar armor, and quickly changed into his bathrobe. As he walked down the hall to the bathroom, he passed Anthony's bedroom. Trevor peeked through the ajar door, and saw his son sleeping peacefully in his room, which was lit by a nightlight. The walls were covered by posters and pictures of various television super heroes, as well as many newspaper clippings of the Power Rangers. Trevor smiled and quietly approached the bed, which was decorated by comic book heroes. Trevor bent down and gently brushed Anthony's sandy-blonde bangs from his eyes. Anthony's eyes fluttered, and he smiled at his father.

"Daddy," he whispered sleepily. "Izzat you?"

"Yeah, Pumpkin, its me," he said quietly, his aqua eyes shining with tears, "I'm home."

"Where did ya go?" Anthony asked with a yawn. "You was gone for a long time. Ya missed Christmas, my birthday, my school play--"

Anthony continued the list, his voice getting weaker and weaker. Soon, Anthony was sound asleep again, and Trevor sat on the side of the bed, tears streaming down his cheeks.

I missed my son's entire life!

he lamented, standing up quietly. What kind of a father am I?

Trevor snuck to the door, but before he left he heard his son yawn.

"Daddy?" said the little boy, rubbing his eyes.

"Yes, Tony?"

"I love ya."

"I love you too, son," said Trevor, going back to Anthony's bed and hugging him tightly. Kimberly watched from outside the room, tears shining in her eyes and a smile on her face. She was happy, for the first time in two years. Finally, after years of emotional anguish, all's right with the world. For her, her family, and also for Tom. They were all happy now, and Kim prayed that they'd stay that way.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

February 14, 2009

In sunny Angel Grove, a wedding was about to take place. Hundreds of people filled up the church, as the groom played anxiously with his bow tie. He adjusted the shimmering red rose on his white jacket pocket, and smiled. Beside him stood his best man, Jason Lee, who seemed as nervous as Tom. Jason rocked on the soles of his black shoes, glancing occasionally at his wife Emily.

In the front row on the groom's side, Trevor Monroe sat next to his son Anthony. On Trevor's other side is an empty seat, where Kimberly, the maid of honor, would sit. Beside Anthony was Zack, Rocky, and Adam, with an empty seat beside him. On the other side was Eddie Drew, with two empty seats beside him. Then sat William, with an empty seat beside him. The other guests at this party included friends and colleagues of both the bride and groom, old karate students, the bride's mother and brother, and the groom's adoptive parents and sister. Then, Aisha Drew, one of the bridesmaids, poked her head through the door and signaled a thumbs up to the pianist.

Eugene Skullovich, world famous classical musician and composer, began the ceremonial march theme, adding a few of his own improvements.

At the sound of the piano, Tom and Jason stopped fidgeting and stood still.

The priest stood at the podium and watched as the two large mahogany doors parted, and a small, dark, young girl entered the room.

Regina Drew had a basket of flower petals, and she began sprinkling the pink and white petals on the red carpet. When she was half way across the room,

Katherine entered the room, holding the arm of her father.

Behind her marched Kimberly, who was wearing a beautiful pale yellow gown with yellow roses on the hem and hair. Kim held the tail of the magnificent wedding gown that Katherine wore.

Behind Kim walked the other bridesmaids -- Aisha Drew, Tanya Sloan, and Trini Mitchell. All were wearing pale yellow gowns similiar to Kim's but without the flowers. They each carried bouquets of yellow roses.

When Regina reached the altar, she walked gracefully to her seat beside her father Eddie, who gave her a big hug.

Then, Mr. Hillard left Katherine at the altar, and sat down beside his wife.

Kimberly stood beside Katherine, and Aisha and Trini both took their seats.

Eugene stopped playing the song, and the room fell into a calm silence.

"Dearly beloved," started the priest, "we are gathered here today to unite this man and this woman in the bonds of holy matrimony..."

As the priest uttered the familiar speech, Kimberly's doe eyes scanned the room. She noticed how closely Aisha and her husband sat, as well as how adorable Regina was sitting between her parents. I've always wanted a girl,

she thought with a silent sigh. Well, we'll see.

She then noticed her other friends, all dressed so elegantly, and many of them wearing Hart fashions. Wow, we really have grown up. It's hard to believe we were ever as young as the rangers from 1997. We always had such fun back then, at the Youth Center, or the park, or the beach. It's been twelve years since I've been to Ernie's. Gosh, it's amazing! It's funny, you always think you'll be young forever, and then one day it hits you -- you're an adult.

Tom stood beside Katherine, listening as intently as he could to the priest's speech. Of course, it's the same one he gave during the practice runs,

he thought, I can't believe it, I'm actually getting married! I'm over thirty years old-- I didn't think I'd ever tie the knot. Not since Kim -- why am I thinking about this now? I'm here, beside the woman I love, living the last few seconds of my bachelor days, and I'm thinking about Kim dumping me! Well, I have to admit, that was probably the most important occurrence in my life, besides becoming a Power Ranger. After we broke up, my whole life changed. I don't know if its for better or worse, but I do know that I'm happy now. Happier than I've been in a long time.

Tom glanced at Kat, who returned his glance with a shining smile.

For Katherine, this was the happiest moment in her life, the moment she had dreamed about for over thirteen years, since the day her eyes first fell on the gallant leader of the Power Rangers. I can't believe its really happening! I'm actually marrying him! I was so shocked when he first kissed me, and even more so when he asked for my hand. Still, I always had this lingering fear that somehow, Kim would take him away from me. When Trevor vanished, I was certain that Kim would fall back in love with Tom, and his love would be rekindled. I was wrong, though. In the end, I got what I wanted the most out of life. It worked out best for all of us.

"Thomas Oliver," said the priest, "do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for better or worse, for rich or for poor, through sickness and health, now and forever, until death do you part?"

"I do."

"Katherine Hillard, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love and honor, for better or worse, for rich or for poor, through sickness and health, now and forever, until death do you part?"

"I do."

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

As Tom's and Kat's lips touched in the kiss that would seal the marriage vows, the crowds of people began applauding enthusiastically.

Kimberly ran to Trevor, and kissed him with as much gusto as Kat kissed Tom.

Then, Tom and Kat ran out of the church, with tons of rice being hurled at them mercilessly. They entered the white limo, with the "Just Married"

sign, and they were on their way to the hotel, where the reception would be in about an hour.

Kim, Trevor, Anthony, Jason, Emily, Zack, Adam, Tanya, Aisha, Eddie, Regina, Rocky, Trini, and Will all stood and watched the limo drive out of sight. The group all stood happily, still cheering that their two friends have finally found love. After a few more minutes of conversation, the group dispersed, heading to the reception. The rangers and their families piled into a massive white limo, driven by Trevor's chauffeur.

"Let's get going, Miles," said Trevor. "We don't want to be late."

"Yes sir," said Miles, pulling onto the main road.

"That was a beautiful ceremony," said Aisha, dabbing her moist eyes with a yellow hankerchief. Eddie wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders and smiled fondly at her.

"And great outfits, Kim," said Adam, "Tom and Kat really stood out tonight!"

"Yeah!" chimed Tanya. "They looked like royals! You know you have to make my wedding gown when I get married!"

"When are you two getting married?" Kimberly asked. Adam blushed a deep shade of red, while Tanya grinned and took his hand in hers.

"Next October," she said happily, "I'm so excited."

"It's about time, Girl!" shrieked Aisha, reaching over to hug Tanya warmly. "Now, all we have to do is find wives for these two declared bachelors." Both Zack and Rocky looked up, their smiles falling.

"Hey Miles!" called Rocky, trying to change the subject. "How long will it take to get to the hotel?"

"About half an hour, Sir," answered Miles.

"Well, put the pedal to the metal Miles, 'cause I'm starved!!"

"Same here!" Zack chimed. The two bachelors gave each other enthusiastic high fives.

"I pity the poor women who end up having to feed you two," Jason quipped.

"Unbelievable," said Trini with a laugh. "Some things never change!"

Epilogue

February 14, 1997

The sun was setting in Angel Grove. Young Tommy Oliver stood on a rock beside the dazzling lake in Angel Grove Park, looking out onto the water, which was reflecting the pink and orange light on the horizon. He sighed and looked at his watch. It was five minutes before six.

This must be the first time I was ever EARLY

for something,

he thought with a small smile. Boy this is gonna be hard for me...

He turned around when he heard the rustling of the leaves in the trees. Kimberly approached him, her caramel hair blowing in the cool breeze. She was wearing a cute pink and white sundress, and to Tommy, she looked exceptionally beautiful in the pale light of sunset.

She's so beautiful, so alive. So...perfect

. There is nothing about her I would want to change. Not a single flaw I can see...

"Hey Tommy," she said sweetly, glancing down at her watch. "Wow, you're early! You wanted to meet me here at six, so I expected you to be here by about a quarter after."

"Yeah, well, I didn't want you to have to wait for me," he said, not looking her in the eye.

"What is it?" she asked, trying to make eye contact, "What's wrong?"

"Kim," he started, "I...I have something to...to say."

"Does it have anything to do with Annie and Trevor?" she asked knowingly. Tommy nodded.

"Kim, meeting Annie really made me think. About me, about you, and about 'us'

. We've been friends for over two years, and a we've been...more than friends for most of that time. When I met Annie, I came to the realization that, well, we may not always be together. I mean, I never really gave much thought to the future. I guess I always thought that we'd always be here at Angel Grove High, killing monsters and sipping shakes at Ernie's -- that everything will always be status quo. Well, that's not true. The future contains many possibilities, and I can't say I was too happy about the one Annie came from."

Kim nodded, looking down to her feet. Oh my God, he's gonna dump me. He's gonna let me go before I can let him go! Oh please, no...

"I...I guess it's fitting that it's Valentine's Day," Tommy continued. "Of course, it's also your birthday. So, I...I have something for you. I actually bought it awhile ago, but I never had the nerve to give it to you. Until today."

Tommy dug into his pants pocket and pulled out a small square box wrapped in pink and yellow wrapping paper. Kimberly hesitantly accepted the gift, and unwrapped it slowly. Much to her surprise, it was a black velvet jewelry box. She opened it carefully, and her eyes widened to see a delicate gold band with a small diamond set in the middle of a small golden heart.

"Tommy," she said quietly, "this looks a lot like...an engagement ring."

"Kim," he said, taking her other hand in his, "I'm not asking you for eternal devotion or anything. We're both pretty young, and we have things to do before we settle down. We both have college in the future, and I am planning on searching for the meaning of the arrowhead even before that. We have lives to live, and they may very well lead us in different directions. It's kinda scary."

"Yeah," she said, looking down at the ring. "You're right. We don't live the most normal of lives, and we never know if the next battle will be our last, or anything. And...my Mom expects me to go to France after college..."

"Kim, I want you to have this ring because I want you to remember that, no matter what happens, or where we go, I'll always love you. Maybe, when we're older, we may decide to spend our lives together. I don't know -- we're too young to make that kind of decision. I just wanted to say exactly how I feel about you."

Kim looked up into Tommy's hazel eyes, her own doe-brown eyes shining with tears.

"Tommy," she said quietly, hugging him tightly, "you don't know how long I've been waiting for you to tell me that!"

They stood there, holding each other as if their lives depended on it, atop the rock on the edge of the lake, for a long time. Behind them, the orange sun continued on its trek beneath the horizon. They stood there, wrapped in each other's arms, happy to just feel the warmth of the other. And so they stood, feeling safe and secure, as if nothing could ever hurt them. Time stood still, just for them, and they both knew that their love for each other will guide them through anything. Trial after trial. Battle after battle. Year after year. Time after time.

To Be Continued In...

The Terran Rangers/Final Fantasy VII

Contagion

Excerpt from The Terran Rangers/Final Fantasy VII: Contagion

Aisha Campbell groaned as she forced herself out of bed. She rubbed her eyes, and glanced at her alarm clock.

"Once again," she muttered, "I slept through my alarm clock. I'm late!"

But Aisha wasn't too worried about being late to school this morning. As she undressed, she realized she had other problems. On the side of her abdomen was a dark scar, still with dried blood on it. She ran her fingers down the scar, which was nearly a foot long, as she recalled how she received such a terrible wound.

About one week ago, she battled Holocaust as the Green Ranger. He managed to deflect her attack, and blasted her with powerful plasma energy, throwing her into a rusted steel beam. The sharp metal sliced through both her armor and her flesh, giving her a serious wound. But, her wound wasn't as serious as Jason and Zack's.

Jason's shoulder was almost completely sliced through, and Zack's leg was crushed, and he sustained a serious head injury. Even Tommy had numerous broken ribs, that even punctured his lungs. But all three young men have made complete recoveries, thanks to their enhanced Ranger healing abilities, coupled with the highly advanced med-unit, which further increases the body's ability to heal itself. What was strange is that she wasn't healing like the others. The med-unit could only partially heal her wounds, and left this horrible scar.

Billy had diagnosed that her wound was more serious than it looked, and since the med-unit had been used so extensively after that fight, it was low on energy. He believed Aisha's own healing abilities would finish up the regeneration of the skin, and she'd be as good as new in a day or two. But, its been six days, and she's still aching horribly.

"No big deal," she reasoned, wrapping her body in her bathrobe. "So I have a scar. It'll heal eventually. Its no reason to bother Billy. He said I'll be fine, and I believe him."

Aisha hurried into the bathroom, and showered. Afterwards, she combed out her hair, and got dressed. While she was tying her shoelaces, there was a knock on her door.

"Come in!" she called, standing up and applying lip gloss. Doctor Benjamin Campbell, her father, entered the room, and smiled at his only daughter.

"You're a little late this morning," he said, glancing down at his watch. "It's nearly nine o'clock!"

"I know," she sighed, "but ever since Holocaust banged me up, I haven't been able to function well. I'll be okay, though --"

"Aisha," Doctor Campbell said sternly, "that battle was a week ago! Your wound wasn't so serious that you'd still be feeling the effects. Especially after the med-unit mended the cut. You should have been okay after a couple of hours."

Aisha shook her head, and turned to her father. At first, Aisha thought that keeping the secret of being a Power Ranger from her parents was difficult, because there was no way to explain the drop in grades, and constantly having to disappear, only to return with bruises and scratches. But now, she realized it was worse when the parent knows the truth, and was always hounding her to be careful. Thank goodness Mom doesn't know. She'd never let me out of the house!

"Dad, I'll be fine," she said. "It's probably because I haven't been a Power Ranger for awhile. My system just has to readjust is all."

"You don't have to go to school," Doctor Campbell said. "If you're not feeling well, I can write a note saying you were ill today."

"Nah, I'm too far behind as it is," said Aisha, standing up on her toes to give her father a kiss on the cheek. "Gotta go!"

"At least let me drive you," said Doctor Campbell, following Aisha out of her bedroom. "It's on my way to the University."

Character Thesaurus

So, you wanted to know about the characters in this book? )(That is....if you don't know them already!)

That is why I created this character thesaurus for you all! Enjoy!

The Terran Rangers

Jason Lee Scott - Black Terran Ranger

Full Name:

Jason Lee Scott
Ranger Designation:

Black Terran Ranger
Weapons:

Earth Sword, Blade Blaster
Gear:

Wrist Communicator, Power Morpher with Black Zeo Shard
Zord:

Black Rhinoceros Zord

Strong and fearless, Jason is the former Black Terran Ranger and original leader of the Power Rangers. To Jason went the Black Zeo Shard, giving him the power of the Earth, and control of the Rhinoceros Zord. Black Terran Ranger's power weapon is the Earth Sword, a powerful weapon with a razor sharp edge. His weapon combined with the others to form the Power Blaster. As Black Terran Ranger, Jason gained enhanced strength, speed, and durability. His tactical knowledge and fighting skill make him the ultimate Ranger. Jason closely follows the rules of Martial Arts, and promotes discipline and making friends out of enemies. It is this attitude that got him chosen to represent Angel Grove at the World Teen Summit, a peace conference in Switzerland he attended, leaving the Rangers with Trini Kwan and Zack Taylor that left a gap in the team which was then filled by Rocky DeSantos. Recently he's rejoined the team which then granted him this new power.

Zack Taylor - X-Ranger One: Gold

Full Name:

Zack Taylor
Ranger Designation:

X-Ranger One: Gold
Weapons:

Lance of Light, Blade Blaster
Gear:

Wrist Communicator, Power Morpher with Gold Zeo Shard
Zord:>

White Cheetah Zord

Quick witted and clever, Zack relies on speed and cunning to win his battles. The former Black Ranger was the jokester of team, loving dancing, magic, and girls, especially Angela. He cares for his friends and always tried to cheer them up when they're feeling down. A good friend with a good heart, Zack always loved a good joke, and loved it when Bulk and Skull embarrassed themselves in public. Zack is currently back in Angel Grove after promoting world peace at a peace conference in Switzerland. To Zack went the White Zeo Shard, giving him the power of the Light, and control of the White Cheetah Zord. White Terran Ranger's power weapon is the Lance of Light. His weapon combined with the others to form the Power Blaster. As White Terran Ranger, Zack gained enhanced strength, speed, and durability. It is this attitude that got him chosen to represent Angel Grove at the World Teen Summit, a peace conference in Switzerland he attended, leaving the Rangers with Trini Kwan and Jason Lee Scott leaving a gap in the team to be filled by Adam Park. Recently he's rejoined the team which then granted him this new power.

Kimberly Hart - X-Ranger Two: Silver

Full Name:

Kimberly Hart
Ranger Designation:

X-Ranger Two: Silver
Weapons:

Thunderbow, Blade Blaster
Gear:

Wrist Communicator, Power Morpher with Silver Zeo Shard
Zord:

Yellow Thunderbird Zord

Kimberly was one of the five Rangers originally chosen by Zordon to protect the Earth against Rita Repulsa. She was given the Yellow Zeo Shard and ability to morph into the Yellow Terran Ranger and control of the Yellow Thunderbird Zord. Once ditzy and materialistic, Kimberly has evolved into a strong, confident, and caring person. A kind and compassionate soul, Kim cares a great deal about her friends, and will not take kindly to anyone messing with them. Her weapon combined with the others to form the Power Blaster. As Yellow Terran Ranger, Kim gained enhanced strength, speed, and durability as well as limited energy projection.

Tommy Oliver – Red Terran Ranger

Full Name:

Tommy Oliver
Ranger Designation:

Red Terran Ranger
Weapons:

Flame Sabre
Gear:

Power Morpher with Red Zeo Shard, Wrist Communicator
Zord:

Red Phoenix Zord

After he lost the Green Ranger powers, the Power Rangers team was down to five. To keep up with the increasing intensity of Lord Zedd's attacks, Zordon created new White Ranger Powers and gave them to the only one he felt was worthy of receiving them - Tommy. Now he is the Red Terran Ranger. Red Terran Ranger's power weapon is the Flame Sabre. As the Red Terran Ranger, Tommy gained enhanced strength, speed, and durability as well as limited energy projection.

Alexis Darling - Purple Power Ranger

Full Name:

Alexis Darling
Ranger Designation:

Purple Power Ranger
Weapons:

Eagle Whip
Gear:

Eagle Shield, Power Morpher with Power Coin, Wrist Communicator
Zord:

Eaglezord
Powers:

Eagle Heart Pulse Blast

Alexis moved from Philadelphia to Angel Grove with her mother when her mother gained a job at an art gallery. Being new to Angel Grove, she didn't know what to expect and everything was brand new to her. Meeting the six teenagers that were the Power Rangers, she was accepted into their group and they were all later surprised when she became the Purple Power Ranger, inheriting her powers from an ancestor from long ago.

Aisha Campbell - Green Terran Ranger

Full Name:

Aisha Campbell
Ranger Designation:

Green Terran Ranger
Weapons:

Wind Shield, Blade Blaster
Gear:

Wrist Communicator, Power Morpher with Green Zeo Shard
Zord:

Green Eagle Zord

Spirited and full of energy, Aisha was always up to the challenge as a Power Ranger. She met the Power Rangers on a trip to Angel Grove, where she competed in the Ninja Competition along with Rocky and Adam. Aisha and her friends assisted the Rangers in the rescue of a baby in danger. She continued assisting the Rangers when they needed it, proving herself a formidable replacement for Trini as the Yellow Ranger. Trini left Aisha her powers by transferring them to her with the Sword of Light. Yellow Ranger's power weapons are the Power Daggers, powerful blades used for defense and for throwing. Her weapons combined with the others to form the Power Blaster. As Yellow Ranger, Aisha gained enhanced strength, speed, durability, and limited energy projection. Her Yellow Ranger powers were lost when Master Vile turned the team into children, and Goldar destroyed the Power Coins. Upon retrieving the Yellow Zeo Crystal, she sent Tanya back to the team in her place, and stayed in Africa to help the animals. Recently she moved back to Angel Grove where no one but the Rangers remember who she is and what she had done before. Upon an injury that befell Adam, Aisha returned to the team, taking up the mantle as the Green Terran Ranger.

Katherine Hillard - Blue Terran Ranger

Full Name:

Katherine Hillard
Ranger Designation:

Blue Terran Ranger
Weapons:

Ice Daggers, Blade Blaster
Gear:

Wrist Communicator, Power Morpher with Blue Zeo Shard
Zord:

Blue Alligator Zord

Kat is mature and sophisticated beyond her years. She recently came to Angel Grove from Australia, only to be captured by Rita and placed under a spell. Kat befriended the Rangers, and got close enough to steal the Falconzord and Kimberly's Power Coin. Her memories of being good broke the spell, and she became an ally, retrieving Kimberly's coin, which quickly became her own once Kimberly decided to leave for Florida and pass the coin to Kat, so that she would become the new Pink Ranger. Kat maintained a partial telepathic link with Rita, a lingering effect of the spell she was once under. After losing those powers, she received the new powers of the Blue Terran Ranger. Blue Terran Ranger's power weapon are the Ice Daggers. Her weapon combined with the others to form the Power Blaster. As Blue Terran Ranger, Kat gained enhanced strength, speed, and durability as well as limited energy projection.

The Alternate Dimension Terran Rangers

Kimberly Hart - Yellow Terran Ranger

Full Name:

Kimberly Hart
Ranger Designation:

Yellow Terran Ranger
Weapons:

Thunderbow, Blade Blaster
Gear:

Wrist Communicator, Power Morpher with Yellow Zeo Shard
Zord:

Yellow Thunderbird Zord

Kimberly was one of the five Rangers originally chosen by Zordon to protect the Earth against Rita Repulsa. She was given the Yellow Zeo Shard and ability to morph into the Yellow Terran Ranger and control of the Yellow Thunderbird Zord. Once ditzy and materialistic, Kimberly has evolved into a strong, confident, and caring person. A kind and compassionate soul, Kim cares a great deal about her friends, and will not take kindly to anyone messing with them. Her weapon combined with the others to form the Power Blaster. As Yellow Terran Ranger, Kim gained enhanced strength, speed, and durability as well as limited energy projection.

X-Men

Nathan Summers

Nate Grey was created in an alternate timeline in which Apocalypse had conquered North America. Nate was created by one of Apocalypse's Horseman, Mister Sinister, from genetic material taken from Prelate Cyclops and the captive X-Man, Jean Grey. Nate was born and grew up in Sinister's slave pens, from which he was released years later by Cyclops, who had turned against Sinister. After his escape, Nate joined Forge, who led a traveling band of performers, who were secretly conducting guerrilla warfare on Apocalypse's minions in the American Midwest.

Sinister, realizing the damage that would occur if Apocalypse continued his reign, found and killed Forge. Sinister revealed to Nate who Nate was and why he was created: to destroy Apocalypse. In his grief over Forge's death, Nate lashed out with his psionic powers and killed Sinister. He then journeyed to Apocalypse's Citadel, located in what once was New York City. Nate found the X-Men, led in this timeline by Magneto, and helped them in their assault on the Citadel.

During the attack, Nate battled Holocaust by himself. Nate, in an attempt to breach Holocaust's armor, stabbed him with a shard of the recently recovered M'Krann Crystal, and both Nate and Holocaust vanished.

Through the powers of the M'Krann Crystal, Nate was transported to our Earth, landing in the Alps. When he first landed, his subconscious need for companionship recreated a physical body for the dissipated essence of the then-deceased Madelyne Pryor. Nate and Madelyne, who became fast friends, journeyed through Europe until Pryor was convinced to leave Nate by Selene, who wanted Pryor as a member of the newly reformed Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club.

After leaving Europe, Nate encountered McCoy, a twisted version of Hank McCoy from the timeline from which Nate originally hailed McCoy told Nate that he recognized Sinister's work, and explained that Sinister would not have created someone so powerful without a fail-safe. McCoy claimed that Nate's existence was to end the moment he accomplished his mission (to destroy Apocalypse), and Sinister designed Nate's psionic powers to kill him within a few years. To investigate this claim, Nate traveled to Muir Island, where Dr. Moira MacTaggert confirmed the diagnosis: his powers could indeed kill him before he turned twenty-one.

After this revelation, Professor Charles Xavier subjected Nate's mind to a probe. Sensing evil (the part of Xavier's psyche that would eventually break from Xavier and become the entity known as Onslaught), Nate lashed out with his powers and pulled Xavier's psyche from the astral plane.

Soon after that encounter, Nate saved the mutant Threnody, who was fleeing clones of the original Marauders, and the two began to travel together, finally settling in New York City.

Recently, Madelyne Pryor, who was now a member of the Hellfire Club, returned to find Nate, since she felt a connection. Pryor encountered and killed Threnody, and discovered that she (Pryor) had been reconstructed by Nate, later becoming independent of him. Pryor was felled by the combined effort of Nate and Phoenix, the Jean Grey of this timeline.

In an effort to prevent his powers from killing him, Nate recently closed his access to his telekinetic abilities. Whether his telekinetic powers will return over time remains to be seen.

A paradoxical being born of a reality that never will exist, Nate dedicated the totality of his talents to the preservation of his adopted homeworld. The promise of his powers fully realized, X-Man became a modern-day mutant shaman, existing to heal and guide his tribe, though forced to live outside it. He loved them as a parent loves a child, without question. A world-walker, he fought to protect the planet from the incomprehensible, impossible threats of the multiverse, parallel Earths strung along a spiral from one end of reality to another. To save humanity from destruction, he sacrificed himself for the greater good, allowing his energy to flow into every being on the planet.

Mentors and Allies to the Terran Rangers

Adam Park - Green Terran Ranger

Adam is shy, sensitive and spiritual. His training has made him a disciplined and efficient fighter specializing in Shaolin Kung-Fu. He first met the Rangers while attempting to save a child in danger alongside of them. Originally from Stone Canyon, Adam moved to Angel Grove and transferred to Angel Grove High School. By fighting Zedd's forces with the Power Rangers, Adam proved himself to be a suitable replacement for Zack as the Black Ranger. Zack transferred his powers to Adam using the Sword of Light. Upon losing those powers, he then gained the new powers of the Green Terran Rangers. Green Terran Ranger's power weapon is the Wind Shield. His weapon combined with the others to form the Power Blaster. As Green Terran Ranger, Adam gained enhanced strength, speed, durability, and limited energy projection. Recently, Adam has experienced complications with his heart making him unable to continue on as the Green Terran Ranger. He has joined Billy, Tanya and Rocky in helping the Rangers from the CAC.

Billy Cranston

Billy is one of the original five teenagers chosen by Zordon to defend the planet from the forces of Rita Repulsa. As the Blue Ranger, Billy fought well against Putties and Tengas, and saved the Power Rangers on numerous occasions with devices that he created. Billy is the smartest of the Rangers, with a super genius IQ level. Once awkward and shy, Billy has evolved over time into the confident and capable person he is today. To Billy went the Triceratops Power Coin, giving him the power of the Triceratops, and control of the Triceratops Dinozord. His weapon combined with the others to form the Power Blaster. As Blue Ranger, Billy gained enhanced strength, speed, and durability as well as limited energy projection. When the Rangers gained the powers of the Zeo Crystal, he was made mentor to the group after Zordon and Alpha left to create another team of Rangers to fight the Machine Empire in another part of the galaxy.

Tanya Sloan

When former Yellow Power Ranger Aisha Campbell began her quest for the Yellow Zeo sub-crystal, little did she know that she would not return to her life as Power Ranger. Her quest took her to present day Africa, where she decided to remain to help cure the dying animals of the land. When the Yellow Zeo Shard rejected Tanya, she was asked to step up and assist Billy with helping the Terran Rangers in their quest to protect Earth.

RockyDeSantos

Rocky is like the class clown of the Rangers. Good natured, spirited, and likes to have fun. He may be low on the IQ points, but Rocky's martial arts prowess and stubbornness make him an excellent fighter and asset to the team. He first met the Rangers on a trip to Angel Grove to compete in the Ninja Competition, and helped them save a baby in danger. Proving himself worthy by assisting the Rangers several times, Rocky was given the power of the Red Ranger by the departing Jason. Jason used the Sword of Light to transfer his powers to Rocky. Red Ranger's power weapon is the Power Sword, a powerful weapon with a razor sharp edge. His weapon combined with the others to form the Power Blaster. As Red Ranger, Rocky gained enhanced strength, speed, durability, and limited energy projection. When Rocky lost his powers after Rito Revolto's attack on Angel Grove, he gained new powers with the Ape Power Coin given to him by Ninjor on the Rangers' journey to the Temple of Power. The Ape Power Coin was later destroyed by Zedd and Rita when Master Vile reversed time and reverted the Rangers to children. When Rocky sustained injuries from the Command Center exploding, it was deemed that he would serve the Rangers better if he assisted Billy and Tanya in helping the Terran Rangers in their quest to protect Earth.

Zordon

A wise old sage, Zordon used to fight evil around the galaxy, eventually establishing a base of operations on Earth. In a final battle with Rita Repulsa, Zordon was trapped in a time warp, his only window to our reality being a giant tube in the Command Center.

Alpha Five

Alpha 5, a fully sentient automaton, or robot, is the loyal assistant to Zordon in the Power Chamber. He was built on Edenoi by King Lexian, and recruited by Zordon to assist him in establishing a vanguard against evil on Earth.

Bulk and Skull

Bulk and Skull are Angel Grove High's resident punks, bullying those smaller than them, and always coming up with schemes to get fame or fortune, like finding out the identities of the Power Rangers.

Ernie

Ernie is the owner of the Angel Grove Youth Center, the most popular hang out spot for the teens of Angel Grove. Ernie is generous and good-natured, often giving out free drinks and food for special occasions, and helping out his customers if they need it.

Ms. Appleby

Ms. Appleby is one of Angel Grove's most dedicated and tolerant teachers. She constantly put up with the wacky antics of Bulk and Skull, and seems to have them in every subject she teaches.

Mr. Caplan

Mr. Caplan believes in three things- detention, wearing a toupee, and detention. A strict disciplinarian, Mr. Caplan never hesitates in issuing detention to those who deserve it. He loves seeing the students do things for the community and for the environment and does his best to encourage them all do it.

Angela

Zack attempted to gain the affections of Angela, often to no avail. She would turn him down several times before conceding to go on a date with him. When their date was ruined by a monster attack, Zack's chances with Angela seemed slim. However, he refused to give up and succeeded in making amends with her after several ruined attempts, earning a kiss on a lips for his efforts.

Mentors and Allies to the Terran Rangers of the Alternate Dimension

Trevor Monroe

Kimberly's husband. In a seperate time and universe than we know, Trevor was possessed by Holocaust and renamed himself Solar. Bent on revenge against Kimberly's friends, the Power Rangers, he was beaten and Holocaust was taken down on the Astral Field by Nate Summers and Kimberly. He then returned to the time he was from to marry Kimberly of his universe and to become a better father to his son, Anthony.

Anthony Monroe

Kimberly and Trevor's four-year-old son.

Villains of the Terran Rangers

Lord Zedd

Disgusted at Rita's performance at attempting to conquer Earth, Zedd came to the Moon himself to get rid of Rita and do the job right himself, but would also be unsuccessful. Rita found her way back to the Moon, and placed Zedd under a love spell. The two got married, and continued to fail at world domination.

Rita Repulsa

A feared sorceress, Rita attempts to conquer all in sight. After being released from a dumpster in which Zordon imprisoned her in a final battle, she tried to conquer Earth, with her crew. Rita had no luck however, being defeated by the Rangers time and time again.

Goldar

Goldar is Rita's top warrior. He frequently accompanies monsters to Angel Grove, and holds his own against the Rangers.

Squatt and Babboo

Rita's two bumbling henchmen do their best to help their mistress in her war against the Rangers, but usually end up screwing up.

Finster

Finster was part magician, part scientist. He created Putties and monsters for Rita, along with the occasional technological device. Finster was very easy going and gentle by nature.

Z Putties

When Lord Zedd arrived, he brought with him the Z Putty Patrol, which were more powerful than any previous putties, and had to be hit in the Z spot to be destroyed.

Villains of the X-Men

Holocaust

Holocaust first appeared at the X-Men's base at Wundagore Mountain. He was sent there by Apocalypse in order to prove his worth. Known as Nemesis as the time, he claimed to be the son of Apocalypse.

Nemesis was sent to kill as many of Magneto's young students as he could while the X-Men were off fighting Apocalypse's Horsemen. He was defeated in battle by the Scarlet Witch, although he was able to kill her. He left before the X-Men returned and was embraced by Apocalypse as his newest Horseman.

During Apocalypse's blitzkrieg launched against Europe and Asia, Nemesis joined Apocalypse in Japan. They murdered thousands of humans and captured Sunfire, but before they could kill him, Sunfire unleashed a nuclear level plasma blast. Nemesis absorbed the blast, saving himself and Apocalypse.

When Apocalypse returned home to recuperate, Nemesis, now charged with Sunfire's energies, was left to take care of Japan. A small squad of X-Men attacked him. Using Sunfire's energy, Nemesis was about to murder Quicksilver. Enraged, Magneto used his powers to tear Nemesis apart from the inside out. The X-Men retreated, many of them injured, and left the burnt corpse of Nemesis for dead.

Nemesis awoke in the labs of the Dark Beast and was fitted with a transparent armor that would not only channel his energy but also contain him and keep him from dissipating. He took the name Holocaust and would eventually become a Horseman again.

In the days leading up to the fall of Apocalypse, Holocaust faced off against Sabretooth and Wild Child in Chicago. Holocaust was winning and, in his excitement, revealed the secret location of an Infinite processing plant. Wild Child took this information back to the X-Men who used it to save thousands of lives.

Defeated in Indianapolis by the X-Men, the beaten Holocaust returned to his father's side. In the final battle of the Age of Apocalypse, Holocaust fought the Sinister-created Nate Grey. Grey stabbed Holocaust with a shard of the M'Kraan Crystal, which sent both of them into the original Marvel Universe (616)

, where Holocaust continued to wreak havoc.

Eventually Holocaust was placed onto the Exiles when they visited the Age of Apocalypse world. Immediately attacking his team members, Holocaust decided to escape the battle to seek out the M'Kraan Crystal. After finding the crystal in a military base, Holocaust interogated the research staff who told them there was another object making similar energy emissions as the crystal. The technicians equipment led Holocaust back to the Exiles and the Tallus. Using the Tallus and the M'Kraan Crystal, Holocaust and the Exiles teleported to the Panoptichron where they encountered Hyperion. Discovering Hyperion was behind his becoming an Exile, Holocaust attacked Hyperion. Hyperion quickly dealt with Holocaust by cracking open his shell and "eating"

the pure energy that he was made of effectively killing Holocaust.

About the Author

Heather Ray lives in Logansport, Indiana where she enjoys spending time with family and friends. In her spare time when she isn't reading, writing, going to school at the local college of Ivy Tech Community College or working on various art projects, she enjoys swimming and playing basketball with the Special Olympics, watching movies with her god daughter, Lucy, (who happens to be the reason why Heather decided to transfer the fanfiction that she originally wrote this and other book series' into books!)

, acting with the local theater troupe in her hometown, singing, and working on her voice over work.

Her favorite book series includes The House of Night, Peter and the Starcatchers, Daughters of the Moon, The Nick Chronicles

(among other Dark Hunters books!)

, the Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings Book Series, the Harry Potter series, the Sookie Stackhouse series

, and she is also a bit of a comics 'nerd'

with her love for X-Men, Batman, Avengers,

just to name a few of her favorite comics. She also enjoys reading several mangas which include Chobits, Ceres Celestial Legend, Vampire Knight,

and Sailor Moon

!

Not only does she enjoy reading, as is stated above, she also loves watching movies and various TV Shows. Her favorite TV Shows include True Blood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel

, all the seasons of Power Rangers, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Doctor Who

and Once Upon a Time

. Her favorite movies include all the Star Wars

movies, all the Star Trek

movies, the Lord of the Rings

trilogy (she is really looking forward to see The Hobbit

soon!)

, all the Marvel Comics

movies, the Chronicles of Narnia

movies and all the Harry Potter

movies! She also enjoys several animes including Chobits, Ceres Celestial Legend, Rosario Vampire, Vampire Knight,

and her favorite: Sailor Moon

(she is a bit obsessed with Sailor Moon what with not only enjoying the anime but also the live action series from Japan, and the musical series: Sera Myu

! She also cannot wait for the new anime series of Sailor Moon that is due out in a year!)

When she isn't at home writing or spending time with her friends and family, Heather can be found going around her home town (where she picked up a lot of her ideas for these books)

or at her local library, picking up new ideas for her next book!

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 09.08.2012

Alle Rechte vorbehalten