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“Cat Out of the Bag”
Katherine Hillard was an attractive, tall blonde teen girl. She was a recent arrival to Angel Grove from Australia and a dedicated dance student, and she’d already had time to tire of Angel Grove teen boys telling her how pretty her accent was and how they’d always wanted to date a ballerina. Because of this, when she wasn’t getting a ride home from school from one of her friends, she’d taken to walking to her new house on a circuitous route that left little chance for boys to run into her.
The precaution wasn’t needed these days. Though they hadn’t made it official or technically gone on a date, every time AGH students paired off, Tommy was at her side. The last two school dances, he’d assumed he was picking her up and bought her flowers. She got terrible stomach flutters every time she thought about asking him if they were dating – she knew he was still torn up about his ex-girlfriend Kimberly dumping him – and each time she thought about asking, she decided to just enjoy the moment instead. However, the boys of AGH had gotten the message, and given Tommy was popular, a star student, and a black belt, nobody else tried to ask her out anymore. That suited her very well. There was no one else she’d rather date than her tall, dark, and handsome friend.
Kat found herself musing on all this as she walked along her old route home. She’d often started taking a quick, sensible route back, either with her friends, Tommy, or alone, but today she’d felt nostalgic for the meandering, quiet path. She needed to de-stress. She was a senior at AGH and spent at least three more hours each day on dance practice, so she had plenty of reason to want a relaxing walk. On top of that, she was a superhero – and next to saving the world from evil space aliens, stress from Physics test prep didn’t really compare. She and most of her friends in Angel Grove were the Power Rangers, dedicated to stopping evil aliens from taking over their planet. Tommy was the Red Ranger and her leader. As Power Rangers, they’d had a hard week. A detective party had left Kat in a desperate one-on-one fight against villainous machine Archerina to rescue the other five Rangers, and yesterday a singing spell had complicated another monster attack from the evil Machine Empire.
A vast tangle of climbing roses arched over the gate of a yard Kat passed, and she stopped to smell them. She was doing all right, she decided, with all her responsibilities and stresses, but this walk had been a good idea. She felt less wound up than she had in days. Weeks?
In two weeks, specifically. If she was being honest, that’s when her stress had peaked. Tommy had been kidnapped and brainwashed by Archerina’s husband Gasket. He’d been made to believe that the other Power Rangers were evil and had been about to destroy them all. Kat had taken the biggest risk of her life. She’d deMorphed in the hope – trust – faith? that seeing her face would break Tommy’s conditioning. It had. That same night, Tommy had told her that it was the bravest thing he’d ever seen and that no one else’s face would have gotten through to him right then, as he hugged her close on the hood of his car. That was the first moment that made her think they might be a Couple now. In her nightmare last night, though, he’d just laughed at her and blown her head off with his Zeo Pistol. Four nights ago, she’d dreamed he’d held her down while Gasket brainwashed her, too.
Kat realized her heart was hammering in her chest and that the smell of roses had been replaced by machine oil and jeering monster voices from the Arena. She closed her eyes and took deep, steadying breaths. Slowly, the rose scent returned. The memories would fade, she reminded herself. They had before, after she’d broken free of Rita Repulssa’s evil spell and joined the Power Rangers as their ally instead of their enemy. In time, she’d just be able to smell the roses again.
Come to think of it, she’d taken this long walk home a lot back then, too.
Wiping a pair of tears from her cheeks, Kat turned away from the roses back toward home. The street was filled with ancient trees, fading paint, and overgrown front yards. There weren’t really any bad neighborhoods in Angel Grove, as far as she could tell, but there were streets like this one that their overworked or under-nourished people couldn’t care for quite as well. She slipped from the street proper through a broken fence and onto a railroad rideaway. She let out a sigh of released tension. This was her favorite part of the walk.
Generations ago, this long, straight, rock-strewn path had been a train track, but Kat supposed that removing all the rocks when the railroad route closed was more work than just leaving them there. On one side of the track was the tall wooden fence separating it from the neighborhood she’d just left, broken in a few places but mostly intact. On the other side were open, weedy lots and the remnants of a failed orchard, its ancient and spindly walnut trees attesting to someone’s ambition and underestimation of Angel Grove’s summer heat. Kat had never passed anyone on this part of the walk, and the sense of solitude, even if it was illusion, was welcome right now.
The short stretch of rocky path before her led to an off-its-hinges gate that opened onto a normal suburban street in her own neighborhood, no more than a quarter mile, and she knew this whole section well. So, when she saw a part of the fence she hadn’t ever seen before, she stopped in her tracks.
Honeysuckle vines and ferns curled around the edges of this narrow gap in the fence. It looked like two of the tall fence pieces had come disconnected at the top and a third was gone, so that there was just enough space for someone to step inside. She thought she’d seen the honeysuckle vines there before, but not a gap in the fence. It drew all her attention.
Probably just someone’s backyard fence had broken, her rational mind explained… but she wasn’t convinced. The space beyond had an air of mystery to it. Instinct told her that she could step through the fence and be somewhere Else, somewhere Wonderful. Peeking through left her only with a vague sense of deep green shade and promises. Kat stretched one foot tentatively across the fence.
“Kat! Kat, stop!”
In the back of her mind, Kat wondered if she’d heard a voice. It even sounded familiar – not one of her Teammates, but maybe another friend? She shook off the idea. She’d never met anyone else here, after all, and if someone was coming to bother her she’d probably never find out what was in there. Before anyone could stop her, she hurried through to the other side.
Silently, the gap in the fence behind her closed itself.
*****
The deep green shade was real, it turned out. How could something like this exist in the middle of sun-baked Angel Grove? A riot of shade flowers glowed rainbow faces up at her from curving garden beds, and the main groundcover between them wasn’t grass at all but moss. The small – yard? – was ringed around with oaks and aspens with more flowering vines growing on them, so that Kat couldn’t see a house or any obvious path out of the garden space. Only in the middle of the not-grass did sunlight reach in, and that was a dappled shade that ached to be laid down in. It was about 10 degrees Celsius cooler than the baked afternoon heat she’s just left.
A sudden motion among the trees drew her attention. With the perfect feline grace Kat worked so many hours at ballet to emulate, a slender gray tabby cat slipped from a high branch to a lower one.
“Well hello!” she beamed up at it. She’d always loved cats, and though she didn’t remember ever living without them before Angel Grove, her dad liked to tell the story of how she’d howled and begged every day for four months to get her first kitten when she was three. A cat, any cat, always brought a burst of happiness to her. Even Rita Repulssa hadn’t ruined them for her when she’d enslaved Kat and made her able to transform into a cat so she could spy on the Power Rangers. What a perfect way to complete this little hidden garden.
“Hello,” replied the cat.
About to bend down to encourage the cat to come close, Kat froze. “Um. What?”
The cat landed and walked toward her like those rare cats who were totally unafraid of strangers. Automatically, Kat held out a hand to it, and it rubbed its head eagerly on the underside. It purred in a perfectly normal catty way.
Maybe she’d imagined it. “Did.. you..?”
“Talk? Yes. Mmm, a bit lower please,” it said. Kat realized she was scratching its ear and shifted her fingers lower at once. It purred more deeply, then said, “Hello Katherine. I’m Felicia.”
“Oh. Um.” Kat blinked several times, but this still appeared to be happening. “Hi?”
*****
Outside the hidden garden, the owner of the familiar voice Kat had heard banged a gloved fist fruitlessly against the now-sealed fence. The glove was white, accented in Purple diamonds. “Hey! Give her back!” she shouted at the fence. Being a fence, it didn’t respond. She turned instead to the four others who’d just run up behind her. Like her, they were also in colorful costumes: Power Ranger uniforms. They all wore the older style of diamond-patterned costume that hadn’t been seen in Angel Grove for months. Her Purple costume had a small, pointed skirt on it, and so did the figure in Orange and white, but the other three – Black, Green, and White with black diamonds – were skirtless. “Okay, what have we got?” she asked them.
White was holding a small device with glowing lights. It whirred. “The portal is still open, but it’s collapsing. Doing what I can.” Her voice was also high like Purple’s, but it had a Scottish accent in place of Purple’s Valley-girl one.
“What can we do?” Orange asked anxiously. Her accent was closer to Purple’s.
“The closure is an illusion reinforcing the spell matrix,” White began. “So… pull the boards apart?”
Black surged forward to pull from one side as Purple whipped around and pulled from the other. Sure enough, the boards of the fence moved apart far more easily than expected in their hands. Between the boards, though, was no peaceful and inviting shady green nook, but a hazy gray irreality that made their heads spin if they looked at it squarely for more than a second.
“Good! Keep doing that!” White said excitedly, fiddling knobs.
No sooner had she said it, though, than the task became harder. Black and Purple felt the boards slide back toward one another with unnatural weight. “I don’t think the fence likes that plan!” Purple said.
“There is more active magic on them than a few seconds ago,” Black said in a Hispanic accent. “I think Felicia knows we’re here!”
“We have to tell them,” the fifth, Green, Ranger spoke at last. Her voice was also feminine with a very faint trace of some East Asian accent over Californian cadence.
“No,” White protested. “Why would they believe us?”
“Can you make the fence stop being magic?” Black said.
“No.”
“Me neither. So we tell them,” Black said.
“Ugggggh,” Purple moaned, “this is so not the introduction I was hoping for. Moira, pass me the vidro- varko- the techie thingie and I’ll make the call. You all go inside and help her.”
The rest nodded and sprang into motion. Green and Orange walked quickly up to the gap in the fence and jumped through, soon followed by Black.
White passed the small device into Purple’s hands. “Don’t press any buttons,” she cautioned. “Or dials.”
“Are you kidding? I’m not even going to look at it too hard,” Purple agreed.
White jumped through. Sighing, Purple pressed a hidden button on her wrist. “Tommy, come in,” she said in a resigned voice.
*****
Petting a cat was so relaxing, Kat found herself musing. Having a conversation with one was fairly nice, too. They’d chatted a bit about the weather and about mice, but mostly about each other: how long had they each been in Angel Grove (Felicia had arrived about a month ago); where they liked and didn’t like to hang out (surprisingly, Felicia liked the Beach Club – despite the water, she said, there were such good treats), and so on. Kat had rarely felt so comfortable talking to anyone. When they started discussing the relative merits of different high school electives, though, Kat’s confusion finally roared back to life.
“Wait a minute. Why…” she tried to ask. Felicia purred thoroughly, and it was so soothing, but Kat shook herself. “No, wait. What’s going on? You’re a cat – why are you talking?” At last, her thoughts turned toward villainy and her own enslavement, and she jerked back and onto her feet (when had she sat down?), spilling the cat from her lap onto the mossy ground. “Did Rita send you?”
The cat sat back on her haunches, unoffended. “Nothing like that. I don’t work for anyone.”
“Are you even a cat? Why isn’t this more weird?” And why was it so hard to keep her thoughts strung together, even now?
Felicia’s sigh was perfectly feline. “Because someone dangerous is chasing you. They were trying to prevent us from meeting. If I’d left it to your own initiative, they might have kept us apart, so I…” The cat seemed to ponder her next words. “I petted your brain a bit to help you know it was safe and to come fast.”
“You petted my…” Kat’s heart started hammering, clearing more of the cobwebs from her mind. That sounded a lot like some kind of mind control spell, like Rita.
“It’s just a metaphor, Katherine. Aren’t you glad we’ve met?”
Kat was, she realized. The idea that she might never have met Felicia appalled her. She already felt like she could have known Felicia for years. Was that some kind of spell too? “I am, I’m so glad. But I’m scared.”
Felicia gave an inquisitive purr-meow.
“I… before, someone changed my mind to make me serve her. I liked her fine then, too.”
Felicia gave a hiss. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry to remind you of that. If I ever meet them, shall I claw their face off for you?”
Kat laughed out loud. “I don’t think a little cat would make much of a dent in an ancient evil witch, but I-“ Kat stopped herself.
Where the little tabby cat had sat, there was now a human girl. No – an almost-human girl. She was tall and muscular in the same lithe way that Kat was. Her eyes tilted at the corners and her dark gray hair was straight and shining, but Kat wasn’t sure either really had to do with Asian ancestry. Her tilting eyes had slit pupils in a rainbow of greens and yellows, identical to the little cat’s.
With a shock, Kat realized she’d met this mostly-human Felicia before. Her hair was black then and her pupils were round, but otherwise she looked just like the new girl working at the Beach Club who’d gone out of her way to bring Kat’s sundae out to her table. They’d chatted for a few minutes then, too, and it had been just as easy and wonderful.
The girl crouched down close to the ground again, perhaps to put Kat at ease. “You’ve been at this aliens-and-magic thing awhile, Kat,” she said softly. “So, you tell me: am I casting an evil spell on you? Or is this connection between us real?”
The answer was obvious. For all it brought up bad memories, what Kat felt now was nothing like being under Rita Repulssa’s power. Her panic eased a little. She opened her mouth to say as much, but what came out was, “You can turn into a cat.”
Felicia laughed, sounding delighted. “No, silly. You can turn into a cat. I already am one.”
A stab of longing struck Kat. “No I can’t. It was just part of Rita’s spell.”
“That was never Empress Repulssa’s spell,” Felicia said. “Terrans are protected from forced transformations by deep, old magic. If you could turn into a cat before, it’s only because she helped you remember how.”
“You mean…” The thought was too stunning, too wonderful to say out loud. “But why can’t I now?”
“You forgot? Stupid Terrans told you people can’t turn into cats?” Felicia gave a sigh that still sounded perfectly feline. “It’s hard for Terrans to learn without a teacher.”
“I could do it again?” Kat asked at last, tentatively. “Could you… help?”
Felicia’s smile was warm. “Oh yes. Come with me. I’ll show you everything.” Felicia extended a hand to Kat, shining a happy smile up at her.
Kat recoiled. “No way. Explain first.”
Felicia froze just for a second. “We don’t have much time. Those enemies of mine are trying to break in here, to separate us. I’m doing all I can just keeping them away. I don’t want them to separate us, do you?”
“No, God no,” came out of Kat’s mouth, surprising her. It was true, though, and though it could have been a spell, it didn’t feel like one. Still: “Please. I need to know more.”
Felicia sat down fully on the moss, looking disgruntled. “All right. Fast version. I’m not an Earth feline. I’m called Fel’Hari – from the planet Fel’Har. Sometimes other mammal species on other planets have a kinship with us. Terran humans are one of those – a few bloodlines, including your family. You have the strongest kind of connection. You’re able to bond with one of us on a soul level, and you have the potential for a lot of abilities other Terrans don’t.”
Bond on a soul level… “So, you and I are, um…” Kat felt her cheeks heating up.
Felicia grinned. “Not like that. But soulmates, yes. I came to Earth looking for you. Our friendship could be the most fulfilling thing either of us ever experiences.”
“How?”
“Come with me,” Felicia repeated. “There’s a simple ritual – no mind magic, nothing evil or dangerous – and then no one and no distance can really separate us again. And I’ll teach you what you can do.”
She couldn’t be really sure this wasn’t a trick rationally. Kat’s heart, however, was convinced. It was like she’d been reminded of something she’d half-known her whole life, or like she’d forgotten about her most precious treasure and just been reminded.
Felicia’s keen yellow-green eyes watched her closely. “Do you want that?” she asked.
Delight filled her. “Yes, yes, of course I-“ Kat started to say. Second thought struck, and the bottom fell out of her stomach.
*****
Ernie’s Juice Bar was an air-conditioned haven for all those teens who weren’t interested in relaxing on the beach. Though the Zeo Rangers hung out at the Beach Club as often as possible, today most were too busy with homework, and so five of them were gathered around their favorite round table at the Juice Bar.
“What’s a Jevons paradox?” Tommy Oliver, a tall Native American teen with long chestnut hair, asked as he chewed on his pencil.
“We just covered that today,” Tanya Sloan frowned. As the newest Team member, the golden-brown-skinned African-American girl had the least acquaintance with Tommy’s terrible memory.
“I know, but I-“ Tommy’s explanation was cut off by the chime of his – and only his – communicator. He covered it to dull the sound reflexively but exchanged looks with his Team. It was unusual for only one communicator to go off.
Jason Lee Scott, his well-muscled white best friend, shook his short dark hair with a smile and mouthed ‘Kat.’ Tommy’s eyes lit up and he stumbled over his feet to hurry into the hall so he could answer unobserved. The teens he left behind grinned at his back.
“So… are they dating?” Rocky DeSantos leaned forward to ask the table. The cheerful Latino teen’s gaze was fixed mostly on Tanya, Kat’s best friend, and Jason, Tommy’s.
Jason opened his mouth to answer, but whatever he would have said was never spoken.
“Guys, trouble,” Adam Park, the fifth teen at the table called their attention back with quiet urgency. The Korean-American boy with shoulder-length, curling dark hair pointed his finger at the doorway Tommy had just disappeared through. Tommy was standing in it again, and he looked grim as he waved them over.
With practiced efficiency, the other four packed their bags. Inside of ten seconds, they had flung Green, Blue, Yellow, and black backpacks on their backs and were following Tommy into the hall. Jason passed Tommy’s Red backpack to him wordlessly.
“Okay, they’re here,” Tommy said to his wrist. To his Teammates’ surprise, his voice oozed suspicion.
[Hi Zeos,] a voice came through his communicator. It seemed familiar to some of them, but none could quite place it. [This is a terrible introduction, I know, and I’m really sorry, but I need you all to meet me in the back lot behind 2225 Norris Street. Kat’s in danger.]
The Zeos exchanged looks that all read ‘this is a trap.’ “Who is this?” Rocky asked.
[A friend, I promise. It would take a long time to explain, and Kat needs us now. Please.]
“How do I know this isn’t-“ Tommy said.
[A trap, I know, that’s exactly what it sounds like. But please, please come. I don’t know if I can save her without your help.]
A flicker of something like recognition or suspicion crossed Tommy’s face for just a moment. He pressed his communicator again to end the call. Without pausing, he spoke again, “Kat, come in.”
The five waited for a tense few seconds, but no response. “Zordon, come in,” Tommy said then.
[I HEAR YOU, TOMMY.]
“Where’s Kat, and is there anything weird going on at…” Tommy hesitated.
Jason knew why and had foreseen the problem. With a flicker of amusement through his tense expression, he supplied, “2225 Norris Street.”
A brief pause, then, [I CANNOT LOCATE KATHERINE. THERE IS A SLIGHT SENSOR DISTURBANCE AT THAT LOCATION, BUT I CANNOT YET DETERMINE ITS NATURE.]
Tommy nodded to himself. “It’s probably trouble. We’re going there.”
[UNDERSTOOD. I WILL UPDATE YOU WITH ANY FURTHER INFORMATION.]
Tommy said, “Thanks,” then motioned toward the door. The five Zeos rushed outside together to a spot free of onlookers.
“Definitely a trap,” he said even as he took Morph stance. The rest nodded, undisturbed. That it was a trap didn’t matter really – not if Kat was in danger. “IT’S MORPHIN TIME!” he called out.
“Zeo Rangers II, Yellow!” Tanya called.
“Zeo Ranger III, Green!” Adam called.
“Zeo Ranger IV, Blue!” Rocky called.
“Zeo Ranger V, Red!” Tommy finished. In flashes of light, they were Morphed and sailing away into the sky in streaks of color.
*****
“Katherine, what’s wrong?” Felicia looked concerned.
Kat struggled for a moment to put her feelings into words. The idea of bonding with Felicia felt inexplicably right, and the idea that shifting into a cat had been her own power all along.... Longing was too small a word for the explosion of wanting suddenly inside her. But leave? She couldn’t possibly – not just for her parents’ sake, but she had a job. If she just walked away, what would become of the Zeo Rangers?
“I don’t think I can,” she said instead, though it tore at her. “I have responsibilities.”
“What responsibilities?” Felicia frowned.
“Um,” Kat hedged, “some things. Important things.”
Felicia’s eyes narrowed, then, frowning, she said, “You don’t have to leave for long – a day or two at most. Then we’ll be bonded and no one will be able to stop the rest of it. Now come, please.”
Suspicion wormed its way in to Kat’s delight. “Why are you rushing me?”
“I told you, they’re trying to separate us! Enough words, come now!” Felicia snapped. She reached lightning-fast for Kat’s wrist.
“No!” Kat cried, dodging. “I need to know more first!”
“There’s no time for this!” Felicia growled.
Running footsteps? Kat glanced behind her, and what she saw shocked her. Four unfamiliar Power Rangers were running up behind Kat, dressed in diamond-patterned costumes of Orange, Green, White, and Black. They stopped just a step behind her.
The White one spoke in a female voice, “She said no. Get out of here, Felicia, you’ve lost.”
Kat realized she’d turned to face the newcomers when Felicia gave a hiss behind her. “You won’t take her!” Before Kat could reorient, she felt a powerful arm wrap around her chest, pulling her against Felicia and pinning her arms down.
A swirl of emotions ran through Kat: confusion, anger, an absurd sort of gratitude for Felicia’s protection from these strangers. Before she could sort out how she wanted to react, she felt sharp-tipped fingers in her hair. “Ssh,” Felicia’s voice soothed, and Kat’s thoughts simply stopped.
The new Rangers saw Kat sag against her captor, eyes barely open. “No! Let her go!” Orange cried.
“Very well.” So carefully, Felicia helped Kat sit on the mossy ground behind her. “But you will not take her from me.”
As Felicia slipped into a ready stance, her shape changed a second time. Rather than an unintimidating teenage human with a few not-quite-human features, she became taller and more muscled. Her skin gained a coating of sleek gray, tiger-striped fur. Human ears vanished into pointed ones on top of her head, her nose flattened and shifted, and a tail swished out from under her lavender skirt.
“Kat, come on, get away from her,” Black encouraged.
Kat blinked slowly up at them. “Why?” she asked blankly.
“Dammit, Felicia,” White growled. She rushed forward to engage Felicia. Green, Black, and Orange followed close behind.
“Back!” Felicia snarled. Before even White could close, she swept her claws through the air. A gout of lavender light and warmth raced toward them in a chest-height arc. It hit each one, knocking them back a few feet and onto their backs.
“The cat is a mage?! Oh come on!” Orange complained as she stood up.
“Oh. Ah, I didn’t mention?” White asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” Black said. “You’re not leaving with her!” she yelled and charged again. Felicia gave a hiss which, at her size, was fairly terrifying. She aimed a new arc of light to sweep the Black Ranger away. However, Black was feinting – only she had charged straight on. With no apparent cue, the Teammates behind her had split to either side before charging, and her spell missed them entirely. Black was hit solidly and went tumbling, but it hardly mattered.
Green closed first. She launched into a kick, but Felicia dodged and swiped at her with long, curved claws that drew sparks along Green’s costume and a cry of pain from Green. Felicia whirled then to attack Orange, inches from touching Kat. Lavender light sprang up around her foot as she kicked Orange away, and Orange flew back ten feet to hit one of the aspen trees at the edge of the garden. She fell to the ground with a moan as Felicia turned toward White.
“Never again,” Felicia hissed at her, loathing in her voice.
“Stop me then,” White hissed back.
*****
Now in Morph, the Zeo Rangers landed at the address they’d been given braced for a fight. They were surprised to find themselves on a peacefully neglected stretch of old railroad track. Almost at once, they spotted the Purple Ranger.
“What?” Blue Zeo gasped. “Who are you?”
“Are you some kind of Power Ranger?” Yellow Zeo asked.
Purple was bent forward, both hands on either side of apparently loose boards in an old wooden fence, pressing them apart. “Yes Power Ranger, Kat in trouble, rest later,” she said, physical strain clear in her voice. “Through the fence, hurry.”
“No. You could be some evil Ranger, or a shapeshifted monster. We’re not going in there until you explain,” Red Zeo said.
“Are you part of another Team?” Gold asked. “Or here on your own?”
The boards slid a little toward each other, and Purple gave a noise of both effort and frustration. “Really not a good time for 20 questions,” she said tightly. She glanced over her shoulder to see the Zeos not moving toward her and gave a moan of obvious frustration. All in one long breath, she said, “Okay, yes, there are five of us, I’m the leader, we’re not evil and are human, and we’re just visiting Angel Grove and found out one of our old enemies is here and attacking Kat right now so get in there please! Is that good enough?”
“No,” Red said instantly. “Why should we trust anything you say?”
Purple dropped her head forward in defeat. “Fine,” she sighed. “Purple Crane, Power Down.”
In a flash of deep purple light, the costume vanished. In its place was a petite, thin teen with a shoulder-length bob of honey brown hair. She wore a white midriff top and Purple jean skirt. Her hair was held back enough by a Purple headband that they could clearly recognize her face even in profile.
Red opened his mouth to speak. He wasn’t sure what he would say, but it was moot: to his surprise, no sounds would come out.
“Kim,” Gold said instead, his voice echoing with the shock that had taken his best friend’s away.
Kimberly Ann Hart shot them a weary smile. “Hi Jase. Long time. Now will you go save Kat? Please??”
Blue and Green, also Kim’s former Teammates, took three steps each toward the fence before they paused to look at Red. With an effort, Red shook off his shock to start moving toward the fence, too. Reassured, Green and Blue rushed in ahead of him. Kim knelt down to let them leap over her and through.
“So we trust her?” Yellow asked. She’d never met Kim before.
“Yes,” Gold answered firmly. She nodded and followed Green and Blue.
“Explain,” Red said sharply when he and Gold drew level with her. Kim’s mouth popped open for an indignant protest before he added, “later.”
So-familiar doe-brown eyes met his. “Of course,” she vowed. “Later. Soon. Now focus on Kat.”
A dozen things to say tumbled through Red’s mind. He couldn’t settle on any of them, so after a second’s debate he just nodded and jumped through the portal, Gold at his side.
*****
The Zeos found themselves in a desolate, misty land. There were a few scattered trees at intervals, but they were leafless and dead-looking. The air around them irregularly faded to static like they were inside a poorly-tuned TV show. “Where…?” Yellow asked.
Blue shook his head. “I got nothing. Jase?”
The Gold Ranger shook his head too. “New to me.”
“Focus on Kat,” Red repeated his ex-girlfriend’s words. He went very still for a moment, then pointed through the mist. “This way.”
The rest followed him at a jog into the misty world. As they went, quietly, Yellow asked, “So, who…?” of Green.
“Kimberly,” Green answered.
“Kimberly? Like…” Yellow hesitated. At a whisper, she said, “like the Letter, that Kimberly?”
“Yeah.”
“Ohh.”
“Yeah,” Green agreed.
“Form up!” Gold called back. The two lagging Rangers saw that there was a sliver of color showing between two trees ahead that looked like the regular world. They hurried to join the others. The angle of the colorful gap between the two trees was much like the angle of the two boards Kim had held apart.
“Ready?” Red asked.
“Ready!” they answered.
Red first, they jumped through.
*****
The Zeos dropped a few feet into a shady, pleasantly warm, lovely little garden that might have been picturesque and calming if not for the violent battle taking place in it. There were four more unknown – or unrecognized – Rangers in costumes that matched Kim’s, battling a striped cat-person they assumed to be a monster. Damage on the four Rangers’ costumes and their ragged movements showed suggested the battle wasn’t going well. White was struggling to get to their feet with a groan of pain. Behind the monster, Kat lay on the ground, asleep or stunned.
The Zeos ran up to where the other Rangers were regrouping. The Green one was helping the White one back to her feet.
“About time!” Orange said as she spotted them. Blue, Yellow, and Green started: her voice was very familiar to them.
“What, more of you?” Felicia complained.
“Who-” Blue tried to ask Orange.
But Orange was already speaking again. “You keep her attention, we’ll get Kat! Ninjetti! The Bear!”
“The Leopard!” called Green.
“The Scorpion!” called Black.
“The Eagle!” called White.
In a flash, their diamond-patterned costumes were gone, replaced by costumes like exceedingly colorful, fancy gis. Red, Blue, and Green recognized them: these costumes were also the same shape as ones they’d worn before. The newcomers were Ninjetti Rangers.
“Let’s go!” Red called, and he led the Zeos’ charge toward the monster.
Only Yellow was surprised when the strange Rangers got there first. Ninjetti Rangers in the half, Ninjetti Morph were less resilient than fully Morphed Rangers, but they had a unique ability: they could disappear and reappear anywhere else they could see. When Tommy’s Team had been Ninjetti, they’d called it line-of-sight teleportation or simply “popping.”
Before the Zeos had covered half the short distance to their enemy, the four Ninjetti Rangers were there, standing behind Felicia next to Kat. The cat-creature heard them and spun, hissing and swiping. She caught Black across the chest. Her claws left fiery trails across Black’s tunic. Black swore in Spanish and jumped back. Before Felicia could follow up her advantage, the Zeos arrived.
“Hey furry!” Green Zeo called. “Over here!”
Felicia spun again and gave another terrible hiss, but the Zeos were as uncowed as the Ninjetti had been. The Zeos attacked her hand to hand, though, and the Ninjetti didn’t, so she had to focus on the Zeos. This left the four Ninjetti to surround Kat. White and Green stayed on their feet, ready to defend the others, while Black and Orange sank to Kat’s side.
Orange shook her shoulder gently. “Kat. Hey, Kat,” she said quietly. “Come on, girl, wakeup time.”
Kat pushed herself off the ground groggily, rubbing at her eyes. “What… who…” she asked, completely disoriented.
“She’s still under some kind of spell,” Black announced. Kat tried to shake cobwebs out of her head.
“Yeah, guessed that. Kat, I know you’re confused right now, but we’re here to help you. Please just come with us,” Orange said.
That voice… Kat shook out the cobwebs again, a little more successfully this time, and looked from the Bear symbol in the Ninjetti costume to the small strip of familiar brown skin and eyes peeking out from the Orange face mask and hood. “Aisha?” she gasped.
“Later. Please, we gotta get you out of here,” Orange said. At last, Kat maneuvered to her feet.
She caught her breath when she saw Felicia and her Teammates fighting. “No!” she said, taking a step forward automatically. Orange tugged her back.
“Kat, she’s got you under a spell. You fight it, okay?” Orange said. Kat's old friend sounded frightened. “We’ll explain, but we gotta get you out of here.”
Kat hesitated, then let herself be pulled away, though not without an uncertain glance over her shoulder to Felicia.
They hadn’t gotten 10 steps toward the slice of hazy irreality that was the “fence” gap when Felicia succeeded in breaking away from her fight with the Zeos. As she ran toward them, she shot a pair of pale purple balls of fire at the Ninjetti. Green Ninjetti dodged one, and White stepped in front of the other and let it impact on her costume, where it had no apparent effect. Felicia growled in rage. By then, the Zeos had reoriented to put themselves between Felicia and the Ninjettis to block her.
“Power Weapons!” Red Zeo called. The five drew weapons from nowhere. They pointed the weapons at Felicia. Instead of defiantly quippy, Felicia looked unnerved.
“Go! We’ll finish her off,” Gold said. All five weapons started to glow.
“No!”
This time, the voice that called out was White, not Kat. The Ninjetti Ranger left Kat’s side to stand near the Zeos, facing Felicia. The battle halted in surprise as both Zeos and Felicia stared at White.
“This is insane,” White protested. “Felicia, you promised. She said no!”
“No she didn’t – you stopped her saying yes!” Felicia growled.
“What are you talk-“ Red tried to ask, but White waved him off and continued,
“You’ve still got her controlled! If you want to hear what she wants, let her go and listen.”
“You’ll take her away before she can say anything!” Felicia yelled.
White hesitated, looking between her Teammates and the Zeos. Addressing her fellow Rangers, she said, “There are nine of us here. Can we agree she’s not going to get through us all to take Kat if we let them talk for five minutes?”
“Why?” Blue Zeo demanded. “It’s just a monster!”
“No,” White said, looking back to Felicia. “She’s not. Not just, at least.”
“I… please,” Kat stumbled over her words. “Don’t make me go like this.”
Her Teammates glanced back at her. “It’s just a spell,” Red assured her tightly.
“No it isn’t,” Felicia growled.
“She ended the spell. Kat’s free,” Black Ninjetti agreed.
“How would you know?” Red Zeo snapped.
“She can sense magic,” Green Ninjetti said.
“She can what how?” Blue Zeo blinked.
Ignoring the debate, Kat stepped toward Felicia. Orange put a hand on her arm. “Whoa, maybe staying over here, yeah?”
The stricken look on Kat’s face was almost identical to the one on Felicia’s. “Right,” Kat said quietly. “Felicia, I’m listening. What do you have to say?”
“I can teach you so much. Whether you go with me or I stay here on Earth with you, I want to protect our connection. I promise, I would never hurt you,” Felicia said.
“Then why rush this so fast? The spells, fighting my friends… if you’re just here to be my friend, none of that makes sense.”
Felicia flicked unfriendly green-gold eyes to White. “I can’t trust Power Rangers,” she said. “There was another youth of a strong bloodline, like you, I found first. She wanted to come with me, but her Teammates stopped her. ‘For your own good’ they said, a lot. She stayed, and I did too, but we never bonded. It tore both of us to pieces. I don’t want to leave you – I want everything we could be together – but I can’t go through that again. I need you to come with me now, whatever your Teammates say against it, or I have to go.”
Kat’s heart twisted in horror. “Just like that?”
“I’m sorry,” Felicia said, “but yes. If you won’t come, I can’t stay around waiting for you.”
Kat nodded slowly. “I believe you. And I do want this.”
“Kat, no!” Yellow Zeo cried worriedly.
“It’s a trick!” Blue echoed.
“Maybe,” Kat admitted, hesitating. “What aren’t you telling me?”
A growl started deep in Felicia’s throat, and her eyes flicked to White, full of hostility. Kat took the cue. “What isn’t she telling me?” she asked White.
The growl got louder. White hesitated, then turned away from Felicia toward Kat. “Did she tell you that she's evil?” Kat’s gasp answered the question. White went on, “Bonding with her would probably drag you into evil yourself.”
“It might not!” Felicia protested indignantly. She took in Kat’s crestfallen expression, and her own fell too. “Katherine…”
“I fought so hard to get free of evil,” Kat said quietly. “I won’t go back. Is what she says true?”
“I… am evil, and there’s a chance bonding would make you evil. A large chance,” she admitted
very reluctantly, “because I’m more powerful than you.”
Kat pushed away the edges of tears. “Thank you for telling me the truth. I’m so, so sorry, Felicia. No.”
Felicia gave a howl of pain and fury. “No! No, no, you twisted her away from me! We’re supposed to be together. Katherine!” She took two steps toward the line of Rangers.
“Ready!” Red Zeo called out, and his Team brought their Power Weapons to bear again. “Aim!”
Calmly, Kat slipped between her Morphed friends to stand directly in front of Felicia.
“Kat, what-“ Red gasped.
“No,” she told them, quiet and firm. She turned to Felicia and continued, “I can’t bear the thought of you getting hurt. Please, just go.”
Felicia’s alien face remained angry and hard to read. She was still as tensed to attack as the Zeos were. The moment spiralled longer and longer. A pair of tears slipped silently down Kat’s cheeks – just as they had two weeks ago, while she waited to find out if Morphed, brainwashed Tommy was going to kill her.
Felicia withdrew her claws. With loathing in her voice, she said, “Take her and go, before I change my mind.”
Without waiting for a response, she turned her back on all the teens. She jumped into one of the trees around the edges of the garden, and between her feet leaving the ground and settling onto the branch, she’d transformed back into the tabby gray cat. With one more swish of her tail, she was out of sight.
There was a moment of silence. “Is she really gone?” Red asked suspiciously.
“Probably,” White answered. By contrast, she just sounded tired.
“Okay. Let’s get out of here,” he said. Red put his Power Sword away as they started moving toward the exit. Yellow took Kat’s hand and gently pulled her away from where she stood, staring, at where Felicia had disappeared.
Red Zeo quickly joined Yellow at Kat’s other side. “Are you all right?” he asked quietly.
Kat burst out sobbing, to his shock. “Of course I’m not!” Kat cried. “I don’t understand!”
“I’ll second that,” Blue Zeo said, though he was looking at the four Ninjetti Rangers around them.
The two Teams reached the slender triangle of irreality at the garden’s edge. “Don’t worry, Rocky,” Orange began as they stepped through. This time, without Felicia’s magic opposing them, they found themselves back on the old railroad rideaway in the space of a blink.
As the last Ranger stepped through, Kim let go of the two pieces of fence she was still holding apart. She sagged for a moment with exhaustion, shook herself, and burst to her feet to hug a very startled Kat. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” she exclaimed.
Orange finished wryly, “It’ll be explanations all around.”
The End