Archive of Our Own

Sister Dearest

It was midafternoon on a Thursday in Angel Grove. Most teenagers were hard at work in classes while staring wistfully out of windows at the picturesque not-quite-too-hot early summer day, or else daydreaming they were at the mall or the beach. There were, however, a few teens lucky enough to evade the grasp of the California public school system, and they were making the most of it.

*****

“I never knew,” Kimberly Ann Hart said, eyes sparkling, “that ‘Just For Us’ could be this empty. This is the best.” She spun around in a pleased circle, surveying the browing options nearest her at the teen clothing store before settling on a rack of mini-dresses.

Trini Kwan, beside her and perusing the clothing racks with serene curiosity that contrasted to her friend’s intense delight, said, “On a weekday afternoon, it makes sense.”

“Well yes, of course, but I just never imagined. I mean, look – we have this whole rack to ourselves! There are probably only ten people in the entire store!”

“It’s that unusual?” Moira asked with a little smile of curiosity. She was one rack over, looking through soft, flowing white cotton wraps.

Kim laughed. “Totally! It’s shoulder-to-shoulder on big sale days. I used to wonder why they didn’t sell tickets!”

Moira glanced subtly at Trini. Though she’d never think of Kim as a liar, when her leader was this excited – or the topic was clothes – she had a certain tendency toward hyperbole that was less than entirely accurate. The Green Leopard Venusian considered for a slow moment, then admitted, “It did get pretty crowded.”

Kim gave a faint frown. “I just said th...” she started, but when she looked over her shoulder at Moira, she was immediately distracted. Moira was loading up her arm with possible purchases to try on, and they made a rainbow riot of colors and patterns. Something in Kim’s heart wriggled umcomfortably. “Um. Are you trying on all of those?” she asked delicately.

Moira glanced down, then up at Kim. “It’s only 10. Why?”

Kim looked at her own armload. Skirts, shorts, dresses, and tops were all in shades from pale lavender to rich violet. She looked up at Moira. Her mouth squirmed into a frustrated line. “I… no reason. I’ll meet you at the dressing room.” And she all but scurried in that direction.

Moira held her polite puzzlement for another two beats before letting it ease into a small smile of satisfaction.

“You do that to her every time,” Trini said, her own mouth forming a small smile. “Why?”

Moira’s smile grew. “Because she does that every time,” she returned. Then, glancing down at Trini’s small collection of green options, she deliberately said, “Besides, just one color is boring.”

With that, the White Eagle Venusian all but skipped off toward the dressing room. Trini watched her go and smiled. Clothes shopping was one of her least favorite activities in itself... but anything that put both Kim and Moira in good spirits was welcome in her book.

*Of course,* she thought with a small frown, *no knowing if Moira’s actually in good spirits or not.*

*****

Margarita DeSantos, meanwhile, was not succeeding as well at having a good afternoon. Her neck and shoulders blazed with tension while her legs ached at the pace of her walk. She tried to massage them and keep up with her friend at the same time. She spooked her companion badly when she popped her neck.

Aisha Campbell, Orange Bear Venusian Ranger, spun around with arms raised defensively. She relaxed when she saw Rita’s neck twisted to one side.

"Take it easy, Ish. You’d hear about any surprise attacks from me, one way or another, long before you’re in danger,” Rita chided lightly as she untwisted her neck and started working on the muscle knots in her shoulders again.

"I wish you wouldn’t do that," Ish griped.

“Do what? Crack my neck or walk at a reasonable speed?”

"Why not?" Rita asked simply.

Ish let the proto-argument drop. She was tired enough of arguing with Trini Kwan, Green Leopard Venusian Ranger; she didn’t need to start up with Rita, too. "You wouldn’t even be having this problem if you hadn’t stepped in Archerina’s trajectory,” she said instead.

"Sure – but if I hadn’t taken her arrow in the neck, Rocky would have gotten it in the heart, and we would have had much larger problems than sore necks.” Both girls shuddered at the thought of Princess Archerina, wife of Prince Gasket of the Royal House of Gadgetry, nearly making Rocky fall madly in love with her with one of her love arrows. The arrows were already notorious for working on Louie Kaboom and indirectly causing the usurper’s destruction. Yesterday, they’d controlled Jason just as thoroughly, leading him to almost kill Kat, Moira, and a pair of civilian hostages. Ish was glad that Jason didn’t remember the experience.

Ish huffed out a sigh. "Okay... can we just be glad that her arrows don’t have the same effect on girls and leave it at that?"

"Sorry," Rita apologized quietly.

"Me too."

The two girls walked on in silence. The walk was Rita’s idea. She wanted to see the “famous Angel Grove Park,” where so many of the modern age attacks on the Earth had taken place, in part if not in whole. Ish had opted to join her, the reason a mystery. Rita had never known Ish to opt for anything over shopping.

"Whoah,” Rita breathed. Her eyes were wide and focused on something ahead of them.

Ish looked around. Nothing unusual. "What?" she asked.

"The duck pond,” Rita whispered in awe. She quickened her pace, passing Aisha on the path to the historical landmark.

Ish shook her head as she followed more slowly. It was fascinating to see the perspective of either of the two Venusian Rangers who’d never been to Angel Grove before. The most mundane places Ish didn’t even really notice anymore were major tourist attractions for their younger teammates.

Rita had settled on a rock near the lake’s edge by the time Ish caught up. She was being mobbed by ducks anxious for the bread crumbs she was handing out.

Ish did a double-take on the bread crumbs. "Where did those come from?” Ish asked. She showed her empty hands to an eager white duck around her feet. He quacked angrily and waddled back to Rita, who seemed to have an ample supply of food.

Rita just smiled. "I still can’t believe I’m in Angel Grove."

"Hun, you really need to get out more,” Ish said. Rita laughed.

"Being someone’s slave for six years does put a damper on your travel plans,” Rita said lightly. She looked around the lake sized pond, drinking in her surroundings. She didn’t want to forget any of it after their inevitable return to Florida. "This is nice,” she said softly. "Thanks for coming with me, Ish."

"Not a problem."

Rita remembered her earlier musings. "Ish... why did you come? I mean, the others are deep inside the mall by now. I have never seen you pass that up."

Ish glanced up at the bright green leaves of the closest tree. She grimaced lightly at Rita.

"Ohh,” Rita said. She hadn’t thought of that, surprisingly. Ish and Trini seemed to agree consistently on one thing alone: that they should avoid each other as much as possible. Rita didn’t know where the rivalry had started, but she knew it revolved around Kim and suspected it had something to do with Ish replacing Trini on the Angel Grove Team. Perhaps Ish would tell her if she asked today, while she was feeling especially frustrated. Probably she would, Rita decided - her Teammates tended to forget how much she didn’t know until she reminded them. Rita decided against it, though. She didn’t feel any particular need to know. She liked Ish and Trini both, and hopefully one day they’d like each other too.

Ish exhaled sharply. "I’m gonna wander off."

"Okay. Scream if you need anything."

"Will do."

*****

"What about this one?” Trini asked, holding up a yellow sweater with a flower motif on the cuffs.

Kim and Moira just stared at her.

Trini looked at the sweater again, realized the color, and felt her cheeks flush. "Sorry. Forget I did that,” she mumbled. She started to put the sweater back when Moira snatched it.

Moira looked it over, then smiled a little. "It just hit me. I come to California, and I buy winter clothes. How often do I wear sweaters in Florida?"

The other two shoppers laughed a little. "What Ever,” Kim sighed happily. "What about the dress?” she asked.

Trini and Moira frowned at the lavender item in her hands.

"Too muted,” Trini advised. Kim nodded in agreement and went in search of the dress’s brighter counterpart.

Trini looked around the large store. "Moira, what about ” Trini looked at the White Eagle Ninjetti. "Moira?"

Moira’s jaw was clenched tightly. Trini thought she detected tears forming in her eyes.

Trini quickly walked to her. She stopped the three feet away that she knew was as close as Moira would permit right then and tried to follow Moira’s line of sight. Their eyes fell on a tartan plaid skirt of blues, blacks, and greens with a thin white highlight running through. It was definitely a Scottish plaid. Was it Moira’s clan tartan? Like Trini, Moira was an immigrant, but since she never talked about Scotland, Trini could only guess about how much connection she still felt to her home country.

Trini took a considering look at her Teammate. Moira had gone pale, her freckles now standing out garishly against white cheeks. Her expression, meanwhile, had gone carefully neutral in the way that meant she was hiding emotions she had deemed not safe for Trini to see. Given there were no actual villains in sight to provoke that big a reaction from her, probably this was the Douglas tartan. Regardless of the cause, Moira’s façade had almost crumbled, and that meant it was time to get help.

"Kimberly!” Trini called as loudly as she could while still sounding calm for Moira’s benefit. In the minidresses section, she saw Kim’s brown bob whip around. Then, to Trini’s shock, Moira actually broke into tears. Trini tried to offer her an arm, then just a hand, but both times Moira shied away. Kim skidded to a stop and immediately took over.

"Come on, Moira,” the Purple Crane Ninjetti said gently. She wrapped an arm around the youngest girl’s shoulder and quickly steered her out of the store.

*****

Ish found a nice out-of-the-way tree patch in one of the more thickly forested sections of Angel Grove Park. She went to one of the larger trees and sat in the classic "Thinker” position. She was all set to brood over her problems with Trini when she noticed a strange, unpleasant smell. She breathed in deeply and grimaced. It smelled almost like carrion.

Ish stood again. She glanced around. The forest in the opposite direction from the one she’d come from was unnaturally dark, full of eerie, shifting shadows bouncing off dried out, dead looking brambles and twisted trees. She had to blink several times to believe her eyes.

“Ookay, who forgot to break down their scary movie set?” Ish quipped, fighting the urge to laugh. Why hadn’t she noticed this when she arrived? She stood and stepped closer to the Halloweeny place. Nothing jumped out at her, to her relief but slight disappointment. Apparently scary movies had misled her.

She saw a large gray... something... just on the edge of the shadowy place. Acting on instinct, Ish reached out to touch it. It felt cold and... soft. Ish grimaced and pulled her fingers back. But they had stuck slightly to the shape, and when she pulled them back, the gray thing came with.

It used to be human.

It was now very, very dead.

Ish didn’t have to remind herself what Rita had said to do. She just screamed.

Ish scrambled to her feet and ran away from the gruesome figure. A dark-clad body slammed into hers. Ish screamed again and struggled against the other’s grip.

"Ish! Aisha, stop it! It’s me!"

Ish looked up. Rita was the one holding her arms. Her racing heart slowed a little. Not much.

"What’s wrong, Ish?” Rita asked with great concern. She’d never seen Ish this frightened. She was usually still snarking when Kim was shaken.

After several tries, Ish got out, "Dead human."

Rita’s expression hardened. "Like a murder?"

Ish shook her head vigorously. "N no. More dead."

Rita didn’t hesitate. She took Aisha’s hand and had her show where the body was. Rita didn’t have to touch it to make her face go ashen.

"Oh no. Not Angel Grove,” Rita whispered, slowly shrinking away before the diners came back.

“I think...” Ish trailed off. “Wait, what’s that?”

She caught an orange shape with her eyes — but missed catching it with her hands. "Ish, no! Get back!” Rita said desperately. Ish was much too close... Even as Ish finally did look at her, she saw what she’d been so worried about slink out of the trees. She forcibly thawed it out, then said calmly, "Ish, whatever you do, don’t scream."

Ish answered her with a puzzled look.

"Don’t scream. Our lives depend on you not showing fear,” Rita said. Ish was the newest member of the Team and hadn’t gotten as many stories. Really, Moira had only told them about this threat when she’d woken up from nightmares about them. Ironically.

Ish slowly turned to the tiny, gray skinned human near her. Her eyes widened until she felt strain at the muscles, and then some.

Atop the body were a half dozen small, misshapen creatures. Each was about a foot tall, midnight black, bony, and fear inducing.

All sensible thought was banished from Ish’s mind. She screamed loud enough to be heard in Tokyo.

One of the Nightmares, sitting on the dead child’s chest, looked up with huge, glowing red eyes and met with the small, dark brown ones of its next prey.

*****

"Moira, girl, deep breaths,” Kim ordered once the group was inside the women’s bathroom. "This is *so* six months ago."

Moira looked at her leader strangely, unsure how to react. She sniffed, then smiled experimentally. She knew Kim wasn’t really saying she couldn’t have a panic attack, but she was surprised to realize that they’d become so infrequent. “I guess-“ she started to say.

"Beep beep beep beep beep beep!” Kim’s communicator beeped. Trini got up at once to make sure that they were alone in the bathroom. She gave an all clear signal to her leader.

"This is Kimberly, go ahead,” Kim answered the hail somewhat nervously. This had to be awfully important. The Venusian Rangers hardly ever used their communicators because of the very limited amount of power left in Billy’s batteries. In fact, only two people on her Team wore active communicators, herself and...

[Rita here. Kim, we have a-]

Kim’s heart rate jumped through the roof. "Rita?!"

[-tuation. Enemy number two is in Angel Grove,] Rita finished.

Moira’s sobbing ended with a sharp gasp.

"Are you sure?" Kim demanded.

[Nightmare sightings in Angel Grove Park seeings, I should say. They’re right here in front of us. A few hundred yards north of the Duck Pond. And Ish just scre-]

"Rita? Rita!” Kim cried. No answer. Kim aborted the communication and glanced to her left. Trini nodded briskly. To her right. Moira managed a nod as well through her shock. Kim nodded at them both and assumed the Morphin stance. "IT’S MORPHIN TIME!"

"PURPLE VENUSIAN RANGER POWER!”

"WHITE VENUSIAN RANGER POWER!"

"GREEN VENUSIAN RANGER POWER!"

The three superheroes wasted no time in teleporting to the source of Rita’s message.

*****

Rita slapped her communicator twice before abandoning the attempt. The batteries must have died. Rita hoped the communicator batteries would be the only things to die in the next few minutes.

What had Moira said about Nightmares? ‘Don’t scream,’ of course, but they were past that point now. Rita wracked her memory and dredged up something else useful. "Ish, listen to me: don’t move. Think of them as snakes. Same kind of sight,” Rita said quickly. *Same kind of venom.* She realized belatedly that Ish holding still wouldn’t be a problem. Ish was too frozen in fear to move.

But that wouldn’t work either! According to Moira, these minor, servant demons were supposed to be fear seekers. Rita saw a demon slide off the dead body in favor of live Aisha, confirming her new theory.

"Okay, scratch that. Ish, run!” Rita yelled. Ish didn’t move. "NOW!”

Ish snapped to action, pulling her leg back just in time to miss getting snared by a large clawed demon hand. She backed up, then turned, got to her feet, and finally followed Rita’s direction.

The closest demon to Ish raised a long-taloned hand to shield its glowing eyes from the onslaught of sunlight. The bright light caught its black "skin” and highlighted tiny scales all over it that flashed a brilliant emerald green. It hissed and pulled back beneath the shadows. The demons remained daunted for only a few seconds, though not quite long enough for Ish to get clear. One darted forward and raked its claws at Ish’s legs, and Rita guessed from Ish’s scream that it had been a narrow miss.

"Out! Now! Leave!” Rita barked when Ish hesitated. The crowd of demons, quickly increased from six to twelve, made annoyed clicking sounds as their prey got away, but didn’t pursue her into the shockingly bright light. Rita knew all too well why they didn’t.

Despite her best efforts, Rita’s fear grew when twelve oversized demon heads turned with eerie precision to her.

Rita forced herself to hold back a scream as the first, presumably the brightest, demons edged closer, forcing her back against the darkened forest. No matter what, Rita couldn’t surrender to the urge to scream. If she controlled her fear, they wouldn’t rush her right away. If she screamed, she’d provoke them - and probably call Ish back and get them both killed.

Now that the more afraid live thing was gone, the little nightmares were quick to surround the remaining live thing in a thirsty semi circle. They used the darkened part of the forest park as the other part of their trap, supremely confident that she would be caught if she fled to their forest. Rita didn’t doubt it, either. Her one hope was the other three Venusians. If they came in full Morph, they could fend off the nightmares long enough for everyone to get away.

Hopefully.

Rita felt the sharp edge of a thornbush prick at her back and gulped. *Come on, Kim...* she pleaded silently. This was *not* the way she wanted to die. Two demons crouched down, claws forward, preparing to leap at Rita.

Purple, Green, and White teleportation beams landed on the other side of the demons. Surrounded by Ninjetti Rangers in full morph, Rita immediately gasped for lost breath.

"Oh god," Purple whispered. Her heart started beating fast almost as soon as she saw them, confirming fairly well what they were facing. Still, "Moira?”

“Them,” White confirmed. The single-word whisper was all she had to offer right then.

"Hey nightmares,” Purple called. Twelve heads turned one hundred eighty degrees to look at her in annoyance. She had her Blade Blaster drawn and aimed at the demons. "Time to wake up,” Purple growled and fired.

Thin Purple energy beams struck two demons and bounced off their hard armor like skins. The two beams ricocheted off several additional demons before skipping between Rita’s legs and disappearing into the dark forest. All the hit demons let out anguished hisses and dropped down, stunned.

Purple blinked under her helmet. "Oh. Kay. Useful."

"Rita, get out of here. Take them to Ish. I’ll bring up the rear,” White gave a rare order. Rita jumped over the ring of minor demons and followed her Morphed teammates without a second thought.

White just looked at the stunned nightmares for a moment. *You’d just love to catch me, wouldn’t you?* she asked silently. She started abruptly out of her thoughts and after her teammates. She didn’t notice the reinforcements come surging out of the black forest until she felt the first one brush against her heel.

Her heart leapt into the safety of her throat. White broke into a run to get away from the new nightmares she knew were behind her. She took another step and her heels didn’t come with. She jerked and hit the ground hard. She looked ahead. She hadn’t even made it out of the clearing!

White tried to move forward. Sunlight would be some degree of shield even against a hunting party. Her feet wouldn’t cooperate. She finally chanced a look back. As she’d feared, two grinning green nightmares had their claws dug into the soles of her boots. A mass of black nightmares still hung in the shadows at the edge of the black forest, waiting for her fear to peak.

As one, the nightmares lunged forward. Within seconds her legs were pinned under at least a dozen more nightmare demons. A few nightmares grasped the edges of her gloves in their teeth. Sets of claws took up positions over her back, waiting for the slightest flinch to drive them through her Ranger suit to her delicate spine. White felt her helmet unfasten. Red curls spilled freely over her face. Still she wouldn’t struggle for fear of the nightmares’ poisoned claws… and for another, darker reason. A terrible hope curdled her fear into something poisonous.

The nightmares expertly turned their prey over on her back without letting up on even one pair of claws or teeth or getting any of their number crushed under her. Happy nightmare chittering resounded upon sight of Moira’s terrified face.

"Ay, off with you!” a deep voice cried. The nightmares not actively pinning Moira scattered.

The owner of the voice made Moira wait long, tense seconds before coming abruptly into her sight. "Hello Moira,” he said, grinning.

Moira hesitated a few seconds before taking a chance with the nightmare perched in her hair and moving her eyes to focus on the nightmares’ master.

Sean Douglas’s shorter hair matched Moira’s perfectly in color and texture. His olive green eyes sparkled with mirth, but it had a sadistic edge that was alien to him. He was dressed entirely in black. Her brother’s body was taller and leaner than the last time she’d seen it, at age sixteen, shortly after everything that made him her brother had been shredded.

"All right, loose up a bit. Don’t make her afraid to breathe. And don’t stick her until I tell you to,” Sean directed his servant nightmares.

Moira felt the claws, specifically those on her chest, let up a bit.

Sean’s eyes kept drifting up and down her body. "What?” Moira asked very softly. She was afraid to speak any louder.

Sean focused on her face. His smile was almost too soft to belong to a demon as he examined her. "Just admiring."

"The costume?” Moira asked in vain hope. She desperately did *not* want him to be admiring the body underneath.

One corner of Sean’s mouth pricked with a silent laugh. "Of course. The costume," he said with a delicate touch of mockery.

Gathering her bravery, Moira spoke again. "I thought you stopped trying to kill Angela and me."

"Oh? But I did. I don’t plan to kill you."

The remaining minor demons chittered at their demonic master, obviously annoyed at the proposition of capturing a live thing and not getting to kill it.

"Shush. You’ve already got yours.” Sean waved at the gray, drained body at the boundary of the black forest. The nightmares chittered happily with the reminder, and a few swivelled their heads to look longingly at the corpse.

"In a minute,” Sean responded in an aggravated tone. "By Daemon, you’d think they never sucked the life out of someone before,” he joked at Moira. He looked back at her and smiled, causing the Ninjetti to shudder. "Now, sister "

"No," Moira whispered.

Sean smiled sadistically. "Sister dear... aren’t you going to ask what I’m going to do with you?” Moira shook her head slowly. Sean laughed. "Smart girl. I wouldn’t tell you anyway,” he said. "Go ahead, nightmares."

Moira had less than a second to comprehend before fiery pain shot through her body. She screamed. The demons’ claws had cut straight through her Ranger suit. Just the tiny amounts of poison on the nightmares’ claws were enough to set Moira’s blood on fire. Some overenthusiastic nightmares dug their teeth into Moira’s body and let loose the venom from its source, making Moira writhe in agony. Sean didn’t stop them, though the nightmares weren’t supposed to bite her. It was far too pleasing to watch.

Sean was surprised to see that Moira was still holding on to consciousness when he told the nightmares to scoot. "Are you waiting for your last request?" he laughed.

Moira was just able to answer with the last of her strength. "Let me die," she whispered.

Sean laughed. "Oh, Moira, really. You should know better. I’ll never just let you die.” Hope faded in Moira’s eyes as they started to close. Sean teased her to her last. "You’re going to be reunited, sister dearest. Sean in this body, you in yours. Not that either of you will be in control..."

*****

Rita, Kim, and Trini were already well away from the edge of the black forest when they heard Moira’s scream. They stopped running and lowered their heads in mourning, hearts heavy with the knowledge that Moira wouldn’t be coming.

Kim placed a hand on Rita’s arm, seeing the great pain in the healer’s eyes. She’d dropped out of Morph during the run along with Trini, sensing no further need for it. "Come on, let’s find Ish,” she said quietly. The three girls continued.

They found Ish lying against a tree, staring down at nothing. The Orange Venusian looked up at them. Her eyes showed the weight of terrible guilt.

"I heard," she said quietly.

Kim had learned to put aside her own feelings at moments like these. Sounding remarkably composed for someone who thought she’d just lost a good friend and teammate, she said, "It’s not your fault."

"If I hadn’t screamed, Rita wouldn’t have called her there and...” Ish let the end trail off in a sigh. She closed her eyes, looking very tired. "It hurts."

"Where?” Rita asked, mildly concerned. She hadn’t seen Ish get hurt, so it probably wasn’t too major. Perhaps Ish meant that Moira’s death hurt. Rita could certainly understand that... but there was a niggling sense in the back of her mind that Ish was in pain.

"All over."

The three exchanged looks.

"Concentrate, Aisha. Where does it hurt the most?” Trini asked slowly.

Ish struggled to concentrate. "My leg,” she said finally, extending an arm to implicate her right leg. Her voice was weakening rapidly.

There were no visible marks on the leg. None that could be seen from that angle, at least. Rita suffered a flash of memory and the awful suspicion that followed.

"Ish, can you turn over?” Rita asked. With evident effort, Ish turned over on her side, revealing a small pool of blood and the wound that caused it simultaneously.

Kim clasped her hand over her mouth. "Oh no,” she said in horror. The shallow cut ran the length of Ish’s lower leg, from her ankle almost to her knee. The upper edges were dried a gruesome jet black, the mark of a nightmare’s talon. The blood seeping out of the wound was an unnaturally dark red, revealing that the poison had spread much too far to be stopped by Terran medicine.

That was when six teleportation beams formed into the Power Rangers ZEO, come to investigate the disturbance.

"Stay back, Zeos,” Kim said, following her own advice. "Don’t touch Ish. She’s contagious.”

"A demon nightmare got her in the leg, poisoned her blood. You almost came too late." Rita’s voice was thick with emotion.

"Too late? What do you mean?” Adam asked. Rita couldn’t possibly mean...

"Aisha is dying,” Trini finally said it. "There’s nothing we can do to stop it."

"No," Rocky said. His brown eyes were wide and uncomprehending. “No way. Not just… like that.”

"There has to be something,” Kat agreed.

Kim shook her head. "I’m sorry. We "

Something inside Rita surged forward. She recognized the lie Kim was about to speak. It had been told before many times, even to the other Venusians. It was the only lie any of them had ever told each other, so far as she knew. Not this time. "Yes we can,” Rita cut her off shakily.

It took Kim almost a full second to realize what Rita was about to do. By then, Rita’s hands were already hovering over Ish’s body. "Rita," Kim said warily.

"I’m done. I can handle it."

Kim wavered a bit before backing off. Rita’s magic, born of her slavery, had carried an unbearable emotional toll when she’d first come to Kim. The slightest spell sent her into full flashbacks. They’d decided after the first few days that she shouldn’t use it again unless she was truly healed from her trauma. Kim wasn’t at all sure Rita was ready – but for Ish’s life, she couldn’t bear to protest.

A small ball of Rita’s paradoxical black light formed under her crossed wrists. Rita blinked her eyes open. She frowned a little. The ball, already powerful, quickly increased in size and strength. Rita raised her crossed hands a bit, making the ball rise with them, then jerked them down over Ish’s chest. The ball fled into Ish and spread out immediately after impact, bathing her body in a soft Black glow. The glow fell away from most of her body in waves of light that focused on her lower right leg. When it cleared, all could see that the blackened area was back to its normal medium brown self. The skin seemed to have healed flawlessly, with not a mark to tell that it had ever been broken.

Rita swayed a little after the light faded. Rocky kneeled next to his sister and helped her steady herself.

"That was incredible,” Trini voiced.

"Are you okay?" Kim asked quickly.

Rita nodded. "Just... a little drained. I need to start building up my reserve energy if I’m going to start doing that again."

"One step at a time,” Kim insisted. "Thank you."

Rita smiled. "De nada. It was nothing."

"No, I’ve seen nothing. That was definitely something,” Tanya replied.

"Ish... I healed her injury, but... poison is hard to get rid of. She’ll probably have an infection in the leg. Sorry... didn’t have time to do it right...” Rita said breathlessly.

"Easy, hermana. Catch your breath first," Rocky said.

"Forgiven,” someone mumbled. The confused voices she heard caused Ish to repeat her word. The Orange Venusian slowly sat up, wincing in the process. "My leg still burns, but not nearly so much, and my brain is working again. Thanks," Ish said.

"We can get the infection taken care of at the Command Center,” Tommy offered. Ish nodded her consent and someone helped her up.

Ish looked at the person supporting her. "Trini?” she whispered her shock.

Trini looked her in the eyes and nodded, confirming that she wasn’t hallucinating. "I’m glad you didn’t die on us, Ish,” she said softly.

The Zeos, unaware of the importance of what Trini had done, broke the silence cast upon the moment by the four Venusians. “So... we’re going?” Tanya asked.

"Uh, sure,” Kim answered, shaking herself. Rocky still held Rita close, so Kim only had to maneuver between Trini with Ish and the other Zeos to subtly link up with Adam and get the rest of her Team teleported without using up the last remnant of power left in her communicator. She privately promised to bug Billy about getting them replacement batteries for their communicators at the very next opportunity. She’d delayed because of his weirdly grumpy moods lately, but the thought of what would have happened if Rita’s communicator had run out of power a day earlier was going to keep her up at night.

Then the bodies of the ten teens melted into a vibrant rainbow of color, one that notably lacked the white streak that the two Teams had already come to anticipate in their short time together.

*****

"There. Done,” Billy said to no one. He put down the tool he was using and raised the bar over Aisha’s midsection. Then he stopped to look at her face. The young girl was sedated. Technically. Billy looked around carefully. There was no one else that he could sense in the small antechamber that he was in the process of redesigning into an infirmary. No one would see…

The blond haired teen stared deep into Ish’s closed eyes, found the quiet calm hiding very deep within him, and snapped his fingers once. Ish’s eyes popped open obediently. She shut them again as she tried to get her bearings.

"The infection is under control, Ish. You’ll have to take it easy for a few days, though, while your body finishes recovering,” Billy informed her.

Ish opened her eyes and looked at the former Ranger skeptically. "I can’t rest. Our last battle was hard enough, and we had Moira to help."

"Deal,” Billy snapped sourly. He turned and quickly left to go inform the anxious Rangers, whom he’d had to force out of the room several times before finally finding himself alone with Ish, of her "fortunate” recovery. Funny. Fortune had had nothing to do with it, and yet that was what he was supposed to tell them. Ah well. Rules were rules.

Tanya wasn’t the only one who’d noticed Billy’s split personality. "Yeah, of course, Mister Hyde," Ish muttered.

Out of her sight and supposedly out of earshot, Billy stopped and stiffened. He shut his eyes and smothered the flame of anger. Sometimes he just didn’t know why he stood for this stuff. Then he’d remember, and smile a little. Long before anyone could notice, he continued toward the main body of Rangers.

*****

"...but I seriously doubt that she’ll be in any condition to fight for at least another full day," Billy analyzed.

Kim rubbed her left temple, looking tired instead of guilty. "This could be a problem. Sean didn’t become our second greatest potential threat by backing out of fights. If anything, Moira’s death will make him more confident that he can take out the rest of us."

"Wait a minute,” Jason protested, "when are we going to look for Moira?"

Kim fixed him her best "I’m not in a good mood don’t push it” Kimlook. "We’re not. There’s no way she could have escaped. Especially not after being poisoned."

*Thank God he said it. I’m tired of being the black sheep,* Trini thought. "But what if she didn’t escape? What if Sean took her captive?"

"And the poison was just to make sure Moira couldn’t fight back? Sean has to have an antidote to that stuff somewhere, right?” Adam added, catching on to Jason and Trini’s line of thought.

Kim looked from one Ranger to the next. She went from rigid with tension to sagging, grief peeking through. She sighed. "Okay, look, I’m obviously not making the best choices today. You decide. If you want to go look for her, fine. I just really don’t think we’ll find anyone."

"Maybe Moira is dead. But I want to see the body before I give up,” Rita said.

The best place to begin looking, they soon agreed, was also the place where Sean’s forces were strongest. It was the area within Angel Grove Park that his nightmares had dried up and darkened to make an ideal habitat. It was the base that Sean had cloaked with a remarkably strong forgetfulness spell to keep the forces of good and evil alike from discovering him before he was ready.

In other words, their search began in the black forest.

*****

Moira awoke feeling severely disjointed. First she noticed that she could take only tiny, strained breaths, next that she couldn’t move her legs at all. She tried opening her eyes, but all she saw was blackness.

Moira fought down rising panic. She closed her eyes and tried to stay calm. She wanted to wait until she was fully awake to try and remember how she’d come to be there, so that she wouldn’t be panicking needlessly if she couldn’t remember.

"Moira.” The soothing voice interrupted her attempt. "Are you awake?"

Moira murmured a reply and tried opening her eyes again. She could make out a few gray shapes in the slightly lessened darkness. After a few seconds she was able to pick out her brother among them. "Mmm... Sean?” she asked hopefully. Even as she said it, she tried to remember what was wrong with this picture. Sean, darkness... Brother... darkness...

Sean laughed softly. "That all depends on how you look at it, sister dearest."

All at once, the harsh memories came flooding back to her. She turned her head away from her brother’s face, silent for the knowledge that anything she said would reveal her pain.

Sean chuckled softly to himself. Too easy!

"Why can’t I move my legs?" she whispered.

"Your legs? That’s what you’re worried about?” Sean mocked. "I thought you’d be more concerned about the fact that you can barely breathe.” Sean waited. Moira said nothing, still waiting for her answer. Sean’s mouth dipped into a frown. The girl’s silent streak could get very annoying. *Well, I’ll fix that soon enough.*

Moira felt something cool brush against her left hand. She tried to move away but found that she couldn’t move her hand anymore. Fear shot through her. This was why she couldn’t move her legs at all, and was just barely able to breathe. The demon was somehow taking away her motor control.

"Aye, ye know now, don’t ye, sister?"

"Why are you... doing this... to me?” Moira gasped, head starting to swim from the forced shallow breaths.

Sean quickly rubbed more of the paralytic energy into the rest of his body’s blood sister’s left arm, then moved on to her right. There was only so much Moira could do to resist, and in the end it amounted to nothing.

"I’m merely turning yours into the perfect host body. Now you can’t fight me physically, and when the time comes, you won’t be able to fight me off inside your mind. Your body will be mine,” he paused in his efforts to breathe the last sentence in her ear. Moira responded by whipping her head in his direction and trying to bite his nose. He pulled back in time, but just barely.

"I will never allow you in my body or my mind,” Moira gritted out.

Sean just smiled knowingly and said, "We’ll see.” He continued talking after a moment. "You should be grateful at least that I finished with your more... intimate spots before you awoke."

Moira paused. She was naked. His hands... her brother’s hands... had rubbed that energy all over her body... Moira mentally shuddered. And unless she could defend herself against the demon spirit, that was just the beginning...

Sean had to fight her a bit to rub the magic into her face, but he did manage to do it. He left her just enough muscle control to speak and breathe a little, but no more. He wanted to make this as easy as possible for him. Without an aid like this, between the power of White that protected her and her own stubborn spirit, Moira could very well have the strength to fight him off.

Just as he was finishing up, a minor demon, one of the larger kinds he preferred to employ at about three feet in height, skittered in the room with a projected aura of urgency. Sean reluctantly broke away from torturing his next host to see what the trouble was.

The minor demon informed him in its demonic, evil sounding tongue that a few... dozen border scouts had sort of kinda rather marginally been... vaporized by tall, brightly colored prey-things.

Sean growled. It was too early for the eaglet’s friends to show themselves! He ordered the demon to take reinforcements and stop the "brightly colored prey things" at all costs.

Unfortunately for it, the minor demon remembered another subject it was supposed to bring to Sean’s attention. It said that some of the littlest demons were getting restless and demanding to know when they were going to get payed for all this highly intensive labor, including construction of his new base and the darkening of the surrounding area. And it added that some of the larger demons were also getting a bit concerned and it in particular didn’t like that was as far as it got.

Sean walked away from the smoldering carcass, immersed in thought. So, the Rangers had penetrated the black forest? He had fully expected them to come looking for Moira, as Rangers had the incomprehensible trait of never giving up when they should, but he hadn’t expected all ten of them to get their act in gear so quickly. He’d hoped to infiltrate Moira’s body, go back to the Rangers as if nothing had happened, and destroy them from the inside. Ah, but he *did* love the classics.

"Don’t kill the messenger. You’ll run out of messengers dealing with Power Rangers,” Moira said softly.

Sean glared at her. "Shut up.” Moira gave a tiny satisfied smile. Sean ignored her with an effort so that he could get back to thinking. Perhaps using the simple element of surprise would be enough. If he transferred to her body now, he should have enough time to make himself "at home” before the two Ranger teams arrived. Then he could make them believe that Moira was still in control of the body and finish them all right there, where the advantage remained his. Yes... as fun as it would be, there was really no need to drag out the Rangers’ destruction.

"Sister dearest, there’s been a change in plans..."

*****

*Dodge, fire, dodge, dodge, fire, dodge, fire, fire, hit! Smolder...*

"Do they have to keep doing that?” green Leopard complained aloud as she ran. The eight assorted Rangers were setting a fast pace toward the center of the black forest, but somehow the remaining nightmare border guards and the many other nightmares that had since joined the chase kept up with them. The Rangers constantly had to turn around and fire at the deadly little monsters to keep them from getting too close, though they missed a lot more than they hit. All eight found themselves wishing that Jason and his special broad band Gold Rush power had come along on this trip, but he’d stayed behind at the Power Chamber for reasons unknown, so they had to make do with their own single-beam weapons. When they did hit a nightmare, though, thanks to Billy’s quick modifications to their power guns and laser pistols, the demon sort of crumpled down and a good deal of steam rose off of it. Several other demons stopped and surrounded the wounded one each time, and the Leopard Ninjetti really wanted to believe they were helping their hurt comrade but couldn’t quite. She really did not care for the sight.

"Doing what?" Green asked.

"Smoldering," green said. "Never mind," she added.

"Hold it,” Red said suddenly, ahead of the two Green Rangers. He held up a gloved hand. "Where’s Rocky?"

The seven Rangers stopped and looked around. The nightmares stopped their pursuit, looked at each other, and seemed to ask who among them had snagged the Blue Ranger.

A shower of thin laser beams rained down on the confused demons, hitting them with far more accuracy than the Rangers had while on the run. The nightmares split apart and ran for cover, screaming shrilly as they were struck down regardless.

"What th-” Yellow yelped in surprise.

"Hey, guys! Up here!” Rocky’s voice called from above them. A Blue helmet stuck out of the dead brown foliage as the "missing” Ranger hung upside down from a tree branch to show his fellows where he’d gone to.

"Hey, I’m the bird, how come I didn’t think of that?” purple asked just before jumping into the nearest thick tree branch.

Blue laughed. "’Cause it’s gorilla warfare!" the former Red Ape Ninjetti cried.

The seven let out a collective groan. The remaining Rangers were quick to jump into the trees above them, as the nightmares were finally coming to their senses and trying to swarm their frustrating prey. Once safely in the dead trees, all blasters were out and the Rangers were busily sending down a hailstorm of colored sparks on their aggressors.

A demon about twice as tall as the reinforcements it was leading took in the scene in red eyed shock. Sure, prey sometimes fought back, but prey wasn’t supposed to kill off fifty of their number at once! It chittered quiet instructions to the ordered reinforcements, two hundred in number. Then it gave the order and the ten-inch nightmares broke into groups and swarmed up the largest tree trunks. If prey could pull off a surprise attack, then nightmares could do it that much better!

Pink screamed a piercing note at the top of her lungs, alerting everyone instantly. "Ambush! Everybody MOVE!” she yelled. Though she was the first to spot the well camouflaged nightmares against the deeply shaded black tree trunks, at the alert the rest saw them too.

"Go down?!" Green said.

A small but sufficient group of about twenty nightmares took up positions on the ground beneath the Rangers, claws lifted into the air, threatening to pierce the boots of anyone who dared try to jump.

"No! Go across! The trees are thick enough here, we can make it!” purple said. To demonstrate, she took the first leap to a tree farther from the demons and closer to the center of the black forest. At the center there was, according to the Power Chamber’s censors, a structure of some sort that the sensors were completely unable to penetrate. It was as good a place to look for Moira as any, assuming they could get there in one piece. Beyond the edge of the black forest none of the scanners could get a strong enough reading to use teleportation. Purple landed on her feet on the chosen branch, but she was a little off balance. She windmilled her arms since she had no other branches to grab hold of to steady herself. She regained her balance quickly and motioned to the others to follow.

"This is a first,” Pink commented as she followed in the quickly formed line. She leapt, caught a branch with her arms, and swung up to rest her feet on it.

"Be there soon,” Blue said. He chanced a look behind him. The tiny ten inch tall nightmares were huddled at the edges of the trees they’d climbed into, unable to make the long leaps that the Rangers were. They shook their fists at him angrily when they saw him looking at them. Blue stifled a laugh and followed after his friends.

Yellow took the unexpected break in the fighting to catch up to the nearest more experienced Ranger - orange. “So... Nightmares? Demons? What are these things?”

Orange’s surprised expression showed through her Ninjetti mask. “Oh. Right. I guess we moved pretty fast, didn’t we.” She paused to judge a tricky leap to the next tree. Once Yellow had joined her on the other side, she went on, “I don’t know that much, but I know the little ones are called nightmares, and they’re, like, the little guppies. Not as big a threat unless you get a lot of them together. The bigger ones are a different story. Dunno if they have their own bodies or not - I've only met them without. They can take over someone else’s body. Guess that’s what happened to Sean. Those are called demons, though Moira calls them Demnens. Maybe that’s where the Christian ones came from? When this happened to one of Zordon’s Rangers, he was fine once the thing was shoved out of him again, but I guess Sean was hurt first and won't be okay even if the demon gets removed.”

Yellow blinked behind her helmet. “This happened to one of us?”

They were at a bottleneck, waiting for Blue and Green ahead of them, and orange took the opportunity to stare blankly at Yellow. “Huh,” she said eventually. “So Tommy really doesn’t talk about the past these days, then?”

“I... well... no,” Yellow hesitated.  In fact, in just the last few days of the Venusians' visit, she'd come face-to-face with how little she knew compared to the other Rangers.  It had never seemed to matter before.

“There!” purple called out ahead, still leading the group. Yellow made the last long leap to the same tree purple stood on.

"On our way,” orange echoed softly, wishing Moira could hear. She hated to think what that monster might be doing to her friend, even as they came to help...

*****

As the light faded, the first thing she heard was a soft nearby "thump.” She slowly tested her control of the body. Fingers, check. Legs, check. Eyes... once the spots in front of them cleared, check. The native spirit was neatly tucked away in a far corner of her newly acquired mind, to be teased and tormented as she pleased at a later date. Everything had worked perfectly.

Moira sat up straight and looked down at her new body. It had been a long time since she’d been a human female. It would certainly be fun to play around with being one again, but with the Rangers due to arrive any moment she had need of proper attire.

"Servant!” she ordered sharply. A groan from beside the bed told her that her servant was still dazed from the transfer. Completely unacceptable. "Get up, now, servant!” she snapped. If that boy had dared forget how to obey...

The eighteen year old pulled himself to his feet. "Yes, sir,” he mumbled. Sean looked at his master... mistress? "I mean ma’am... I mean..."

"Silence,” Moira said, raising a hand sharply in his direction. Sean sealed his lips tightly. "Get me some clothes. Now, Sean!"

Sean scrambled around to find Moira’s clothes. He tossed her the sage green sports bra, matching bicycle shorts, and rose colored sweater that Moira had tied around her waist.

Moira slipped into the shorts, then looked at the sports bra with distaste. "This is the absolute *last* time I wear a corset," she promised.

Sean smothered a smile. "You said that the last time."

Moira’s arm whipped out, pointer finger aimed at Sean to strike him down with an energy blast, but as her servant cowered, she reconsidered. The green halo of light around her fingertip faded. "Lucky for you, I’ve no time to punish you properly. The Rangers will be here any minute. We will have to pull off quite a performance, but if we succeed, every uncorrupted Terran Ranger will die this day. You’d like to see that, wouldn’t you?"

"Of course, mistress.” Sean’s voice went slightly dull as his mouth spoke words that the real Sean never would have.

Moira’s lips curved into an cruel smile. "Good boy. If you play your part well you will be... greatly... rewarded.” She held the boy in her gaze for a moment before snapping them both back to business with, "But, much as I loathe the words, we must get to work."

*****

"There it is,” purple said softly. She parted the branches at the edge of the last trees farther so that the other Rangers could see. There stood about five hundred feet beyond the edge of the trees a small, squat building.

"Somehow, I have a hard time believing that’s Sean’s base,” Red said.

"If you mean to say that you can’t believe that Sean’s base would be so small, then you’re right. I believe we’ll be going underground," black said.

"Leave it to the Scorpion to spot an underground lair,” Yellow said, shaking her head.

"Has anyone noticed something...” green trailed off uncertainly.

"Weird? Like, that there are no creepy crawly things running amuck within a few hundred feet of this place?” Green finished her thought. The Leopard Ninjetti looked at him in surprise while the rest of the Rangers also noticed the absence of opposition.

"This has got to be a trap," Blue concluded.

"Well, let’s go,” purple said, not denying Blue’s statement in the least. She bounced twice on the thick branch and double flipped out of the tree. She landed squarely on her feet and looked around. She couldn’t see any nightmares from this angle either. "It’s terribly dangerous. Come on,” purple said light heartedly, motioning to the other Rangers.

Pink pulled off a spectacular mock dive from her higher tree branch, holding the dive position until just before she hit the ground and rolling when she did hit to come up on her feet.

Once all the Rangers were down, purple said quietly to Pink, "I see I’m not the only one who’s been practicing.”

"If we get out of this, I’ll to show you on a real diving board,” Pink replied.

"It’s a date,” purple said with a small smile in her voice. "Let’s go!"

The group had gone no more than a few feet when the first nightmares appeared. Just... appeared. In little black and red flashes of light, they were right on the Rangers’ tails.

"RUN!” Red yelled. The eight Rangers broke into runs, all headed directly for the entrance to Sean’s lair. The nightmares quickly made each divert course just slightly.

"Trini, catch!” Purple’s blaster went sailing over the whole group to land safely in green’s left hand. Purple was the closest to their goal and green was the farthest away, so purple figured that green would need her blaster more.

"Thanks!” green yelled back. She started to fire with both blasters.

"Kim, I’ve got a better idea!” black yelled to call her leader’s attention. She assumed the Morphin stance for a brief second, then leaped high to get out of range of the claws coming at her legs.

Purple nodded quickly. "IT’S MORPHIN TIME!"

"PURPLE VENUSIAN RANGER POWER!"

"BLACK VENUSIAN RANGER POWER!"

"GREEN VENUSIAN RANGER POWER!"

Purple saw an opening in the nightmares’ ranks. The opening was a little overly obvious, but not by enough to set off Purple’s mental alarms. She went for the opening... and made it right through to the shack like building. Not feeling at all in the mood for the subtle approach, she kicked in the door and went straight down the stairs on the other side.

"Hey guys, quick! Follow Kim!” Red motioned feverishly to the rest of the Rangers, then dashed down the opening after Purple. Green Zeo, then Black Scorpion and Blue Zeo followed. All made it through, but thanks to some decent acting from the nightmares, none guessed that the convenient opening was there on purpose.

"Go, Kat!” Yellow yelled to her teammate, who was hesitating at the prospect of leaving Yellow and Green Leopard to bring up the rear.

Pink sped off, seeming to make it just in time as the nightmares "suddenly” noticed the gap in their ranks and sealed it off.

Yellow Zeo and Green Leopard looked at the building, thickly guarded by nightmares now, then at each other. They were stuck outside, in the black forest, smack in the middle of Nightmare Central. Green pulled Yellow close to her.

"Charge them," she said softly.

"What?" Yellow asked.

"Trust me. Charge the nightmares covering the entrance. They’re not into self sacrifice. They’ll move out of your way."

Yellow looked at the other uncertainly for a moment. *How else do you think you’re get out of here?* Yellow challenged herself. Coming up with the expected nothing, Yellow ran full speed at the nightmares. They shrieked and parted ranks at the last moment, just before the first nightmare would’ve been hit by Yellow. Yellow made it inside and waited anxiously for Green.

The nightmares left the path open for Green’s approach. Once she was well inside their ranks, they closed in on her from all sides at once.

Green screamed as nightmares dug their claws deep into her legs to topple her over. Nightmares scurried out of the way to make room for their new prize. Their master had said they could keep one or two of the brightly-colored prey-things for themselves if they herded the rest inside. The black nightmares, quite comfortable in the shade of the small shack entrance, swarmed all over Green, hiding her from Yellow’s eyes. They sank their claws into the Green prey thing to hear her screams, but didn’t bite her yet. Since they’d only caught one prey thing, they were going to make her last as long as possible.

"TRINI!” Yellow screamed. She’d never been more terrified in her life than she was at that moment, as she watched her new friend being slowly poisoned to death just a few feet away. Green’s cries grew weaker and more frantic with every second, at last stirring Yellow out of her fear-magic induced paralysis. Yellow couldn’t leave Green behind, though to go out there surely meant capture. Therefore...

Yellow drew her laser pistol from her belt and set it to both its highest setting and continuous fire. She carefully aimed and fired, frying ten or so nightmares sitting on Green’s back in the first sweep. The rest, devoid of any sense of bravery, scattered into the trees.

The blood seeping out of the numerous puncture wounds all over Green’s body was already nearly black. Yellow placed the pistol back in its holster and ran outside.

"Green Venusian Ranger, Power Down,” Green whispered. She cried out in agony when the deMorph was complete, feeling the "residual" pain multiplied several times over.

"Trini, why..." Yellow started, confused.

"Ninjetti. The Leopard,” Trini whispered. She reappeared clothed in her emerald green Ninjetti outfit. She carefully sat up, but felt no pain. "Yes. It worked,” green whispered with relief.

Yellow was quick to offer her aid when green tried to get to her feet.

"I don’t understand. How did changing into your Ninjetti costume get rid of the poison?" Yellow asked, bewildered.

"It didn’t. It just held off the effects. Complicated; heard it from Kim; tell you later. The Ninjetti Morph gives me one advantage that may actually save our lives. Grab my hand, Tanya,” green said. Yellow complied. "Hold on tight."

No sooner had Yellow tightened her grip when green took off, running and leaping into Sean’s base with a combination of superhuman speed and fluid grace that could only belong to a big cat - like the Leopard.

*****

The six Rangers who’d made it safely past the nightmares could hear the sounds of someone struggling in the next room. They all hoped and felt that they were close to finding Moira.

But before they went charging in, the Rangers needed to be as close to full strength as they could manage. Which prompted the question:

"Where are Trini and Tanya?” Purple asked. "Has anyone seen them?"

Five heads shook no.

"Oh no," Black groaned. "Not another one of us!"

"We happen to have lost someone too!" Pink cried.

"Shut up, both of you. This is the worst possible time for an argument!" Red ordered.

It was then that a continuous, monotone scream entered their hearing.

"What...” Blue started. One green and one Yellow blur raced down the hall and came to a halt just in front of him. The green one fell to her knees while the Yellow one was flung away, took a couple of quick breaths, and screamed again experimentally at a lesser level. "Oh. That,” Blue said.

"I am never complaining about a slow park ride again,” Yellow panted. "Never ever ever ever!"

"Trini, can you hear me?” Black asked urgently. Since that morning, a healer’s instincts had returned to Rita at an almost alarming rate. For the first time ever, she was happy to have these instincts. She knew that green was hurt in some way, though she saw no mark on her morphed body. Green gave a small whimper before collapsing. Black could then see green’s grayed skin.

In a gentle voice, she said, "Trini, I need you to deMorph. Can you do that for me?” It was soon evident that green couldn’t. Though Black was not sure why, her hand drifted to rest on top of the Leopard symbol on green’s chest.

"The Leopard, power down,” Black and green said as one. Registering the correct voice, the costume faded away, leaving Trini in civilian clothes. Black sighed with relief. Without the Power actively coursing through Trini’s body, she could start to heal the injuries.

Before she could proceed, Black felt a sharp sting of pain in her right hand. She jerked away from Trini and futilely examined it, in the end having to deMorph herself. She grimaced when she saw the skin of her palm beginning to gray. The poison’s effects had spread to her through her physical contact with Trini. Knowing her time was short, Black quickly sent a very large amount of healing energy into Trini, then managed to send a small amount into her own hand before the dizziness that came with over-taxing her power caught up with her and all she could concentrate on was not passing out.

The light cleared and Trini’s skin had regained its normal color. Trini Morphed once she regained consciousness so she wouldn’t have to deal with the burning pain of the residual infections until the Rangers left the shielded area. As soon as Black recovered enough to walk straight, the eight Rangers finally entered the next chamber.

*****

"Servant,” Moira asked in a thoughtful whisper. Sean walked to her side. "Were you ever scared?"

Sean quickly shook his head. "No, mistress. It was an honor to have you inside me."

Moira’s smile turned playful. "Are you lying to me, boy?"

Sean stared at his mistress for a long moment. He finally decided that she wouldn’t shoot him down for lying, and lowered his eyes and nodded.

"You really shouldn’t do that. I might just..."

Rapidly approaching footfalls sounded in the hallway outside the room they were in.

"Get to position!” Moira hissed. Sean grabbed a blaster and raced across the large room.

*****

The Rangers entered a deeply shadowed room. Fortunately, all eight were in full Morph and didn’t have to wait for their eyes to adjust to make out the contents of the room. That, plus the soft sobs coming from one corner of the room, was sufficient for the Rangers to locate Moira.

Green hurried to Moira before the rest of the Rangers. "Oh Moira,” she whispered. The White Ninjetti was lying in chains on a metal slab, crying softly. Her sweater was gone, and one strap of her sports bra was off her shoulder. An awful guess about what Sean had done sent a weight plummeting into green’s stomach. After Isabella’s mentor...

Moira jerked her head up, seeming to notice the Rangers for the first time. "Trini?” Her sweet voice was small and frightened.

"I’m here. You don’t have to cry any more.” Green hated to see Moira upset enough to actually show her tears.

"Oh good. It was giving me a headache."

"Moira?” Green asked warily.

Moira grinned. She broke out of the chains holding her arms easily - much, much too easily.

"It’s a trap! Everyone- Trini, get back!" Purple ordered.

Green was already moving, but too slowly. A flash of green light, and the Leopard Ninjetti went sailing across the room, impacting hard against the far wall. She slumped to the ground and didn’t rise.

"NO!" Black screamed first.

"Hey, just helping her ‘get back’.” Moira shook off the rest of the chains and stood. She summoned a little green fire into her hand which eerily lit up her whole face. All could see the look of evil delight. "One down. Seven to go."

A couple of Zeos started to draw their laser pistols, but their leader motioned for them to put the weapons back. "Don’t hurt her. Moira’s under some kind of control."

Moira smirked. "Ah yes, the Ranger expert on evil. I read about you. You really were such a waste."

"Try finding an original line."

"Waste of power. With the energy Rita put into you, she could’ve conquered a small planet,” Moira clarified. "Well, maybe someone *else* could’ve conquered a planet with that power,” she mused with a roll of her eyes, "the has-been.

“So, who wants to go next? Come on, come on, no one isn’t an acceptable answer...” But no one was exactly who answered her. The Rangers were slowly edging toward the door, ready to make a run for it.

"Servant!" Moira ordered.

Sean appeared in the doorway, holding a rather large gun like weapon which was glowing a faint red at the tip. "Going somewhere?"

The Rangers stopped their approach.

"I guess not,” Green ZEO said.

There was something not quite aware and softly malicious in Sean’s expression as he pressed the trigger. A wide beam caught everyone in the room except Trini and Moira in its grasp. Very slowly, as if something was fighting for the Rangers but just wasn’t quite strong enough to win, the seven Rangers were forcibly deMorphed.

Fear was shining in more than one pair of eyes when they were finally released. Tommy tried the Morphin call. Nothing happened. The same happened when Kim tried it.

"Like Gasket’s arena,” Tommy said, at last finding his own fear.

"This ‘Gasket’ frightens you? I’ll have to look him up when I finish with this little piece of business,” Moira said.

"We’re not gone yet, you... you...” Kat realized that she didn’t have a name for the thing in control of Moira’s body.

"It’s the demnen that used to be in Sean. That’s why she called Sean ‘servant,’" Rita supplied quietly.

Moira simply smiled. "No powers, no weapons, no way of escape. You weren’t injured that time because you were Morphed. Another blast like that one and you will die. One of you is already dying, in fact... oh, I wonder where that dreadful infection came from?” She grinned at Rita, who looked stricken. Kim placed a hand on her shoulder to try to remind the young healer that it wasn’t her fault if the healing had been imperfect. "You’re trapped in here, your precious Moira for whom you sacrificed everything is trapped in here,” she tapped her skull. "I could spare your lives...” Tanya started to open her mouth to tell her to shove it, but was cut off. "...but I don’t feel like it. So I ask again, who’s next?"

"If you want to hurt any of them, you’ll have to go through me first," Tommy said resolutely.

"Tommy, no!" Kim gasped.

"Very well," Moira agreed. "Brace yourself."

Tommy tried, but he was expecting a martial attack. Instead, what he received was a ball of green fire square in the chest. He fell against the nearest wall and sank to the floor, clutching his chest in pain. The fire felt alive – like it was some physical thing, burrowing into him. He could barely think past the pain, let alone defend himself.

Moira walked to him, a new, larger flame already burning brightly in her hand and lighting up a face full of evil intent. Adam and Tanya were close enough to intercept. They stood in front of their injured leader with matching expressions of defiance on their faces. Moira stopped, considered, then thrust the flame full force at Tommy’s chest. It hit Tanya’s legs and knocked them out from under her. She fell on her stomach, the wind knocked out of her.

Adam quickly moved to Tanya and tried to get her up. He heard the roar just in time to see the fire as it hit him in the face. He screamed. Moira kicked him in the gut for it. She shot hasty flames at Kim and Rocky, who were getting too close, then moved on to Tommy.

She lifted his chin so that she could look in his eyes. However, his eyes were clamped tightly shut. "Open your eyes, boy.” She pressed a hand to his chest. Her fingertips glowed as she steadily increased the level of pain she caused him. “Open.” He finally gave up and opened them, but she didn’t stop increasing the pain. She clucked her tongue at the pain and fear burning in his deep brown eyes. "Such a waste of a spell."

Suddenly, the pain in Tommy’s chest stopped. Instead, there was a feeling of... Tommy wasn’t quite sure how to describe it. Like she was tugging at a corner of his soul...

Horrified, Tommy tried to break away, but she held him firmly in place. He couldn’t look away as she pulled out his life energies. His struggles ceased and his breathing became ragged and shallow. She left him only enough energy to ensure a slow, terrified death.

The vast energy that flowed through her now, all that was contained in Tommy and the Red ZEO Crystal shard, made her feel momentarily sick. She shook that off fiercely. In her old home, the artifact that Moira had carelessly destroyed, she could absorb unlimited amounts of energy. This would be no different because she wouldn’t allow it to be different. She released the Red Ranger, letting his soon-to-be corpse slump to the ground. His energy thrummed through her, begging to be used. She turned to the remaining Rangers and absorbed their horror with delight.

"Next."

*****

Inside the mind they "shared,” Moira’s spirit had awoken to find herself in a small room. From there, she had direct access to the information coming from her eyes and ears, but she had absolutely no motor control. She could see and hear what was happening, but couldn’t stop it. The "room” seemed to have a good supply of sunlight, though there was no star in the mind and no windows for light to enter the room through had there been a light source. The room was only an illusion created by the Demnen, just like the bed she lay in as she tried to block out the images being sent to her from the eyes.

She’d just succeeded in deadening her vision when she heard a blood-curdling scream through the ears. She let out a sob of anguish and flopped into a pillow. She pulled the covers over her, quickly followed by another pillow. Moira started to cry in earnest, but stopped, deciding instead to focus on blocking out the sounds of the atrocities the demon spirit was committing with her body. This was harder to do while trying not to get the occasional image, images which she got anyway. Green fire slamming into Kim’s chest... Adam screaming and shielding his face, too late... Tommy’s terrified and pain-filled eyes as he was drained... Trini, all alone in a corner, dying a slow, excruciating death from the infected wounds all over her body...

All because of her.

She’d done this – not just because the Demnen was an enemy of hers, but in a far more palpable way. She felt tears sprang up in her body’s eyes. She tried to blink them back, but it was difficult to get rid of them. Why? She was normally so good at suppressing tears.

She remembered from a lifetime ago a sunny afternoon at her desk, copying down notes from the board on how to spot Demnen possession. Tears were a giveaway, she recalled: tears from a captive spirit actually showed up on the body. She decided to let them flow instead of trying to stop them, maybe in the hope that someone on the outside might see them, maybe because she was too tired to fight them. She buried her illusory face in her illusory pillow and just stopped trying.

Her bed shook suddenly, jerking her out of her self-indulgence. She peeked out of the pillows. Sean sat there, a delighted smile playing on his lips.

[What do you want?] she asked softly.

The demnen pulled away her pillows and covers — her protection — before he answered her.

[I like this body. In fact, I like it a lot. I want to keep it. Unfortunately, I’m a bit busy at the moment and I just don’t have time to rip you apart piece by piece like I did your brother’s spirit, no matter how therapeutic it would be for me. I wish to make a deal.]

[Get out,] Moira said.

The demnen sighed. [Didn’t you hear me at all, Moira? I don’t want to leave. I want to come to some sort of arrangement with you for permanent control of this body.]

[Leave me alone,] Moira said.

[By Daemon, Moira, you don’t have to be so hard set about everything!] He stopped suddenly. A smile spread across his face. [Are those your terms?]

The sinking look in her eyes made him start to laugh.

[I apologize for making you say it twice!] he laughed. [’Leave me alone’! I love it! I really love it!]

[Will you leave me be if I promise not to try to regain control?] Moira felt horribly cheap, selling out her future and her friends’ lives for a little eternal peace and quiet, but this was too much. She’d killed her new Team and even their friends. She was tired of fighting, and fighting, and fighting, and having her best efforts cause her friends’ deaths in the end.

It howled with laughter so much that Moira wondered if he’d even heard her. Then, in a split second, he totally stopped laughing, or smiling, or anything. [No.]

She was certain she hadn’t heard right. [What?]

[You heard me. I refuse. I should have expected a reasonable demand like this from you. I most certainly will not leave you alone. I’ve looked forward to torturing you for years. I’ll just have to tear you apart later,] he said in tones of fake regret.

Panic cut through her confusion. [But-]

The demnen slapped her across the cheek almost hard enough to break the skin. A small cry fell from her lips and a hand rose to shield the cheek from further blows.

[‘But’ nothing. I said I’d never leave you alone back at the Academy! Or did you conveniently forget that – just like your curse!?] She looked up and found a knee in her gut. He followed it up with a kick across her other cheek that snapped her neck to one side with a loud crack. She fell still.

He stopped in surprise. [I broke her?] he asked, astonished. He kicked the spirit hard in the ribs to make sure. No response. Not even a flinch of her own doing. He laughed shortly. [So much for making deals! All I have to do is break its neck!] he crowed triumphantly. [Ha! Who knew?] Sensing that a few of the stunned Rangers were starting to recover from his fireballs back in the outside world, he left with one final chuckle.

Tears of pain started to flow down Moira’s cheeks the instant the demon left her little corner of her mind. Not being able to flinch when he broke her ribs had been agony, but it had probably saved her life. She untwisted her neck slowly. She still had to bite her lip to keep her silence as a bolt of fiery pain raced down her spine.

[Help...] she breathed. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t see, she couldn’t hear. [Help...] Nevertheless, she had to. This had convinced her. [Help...] If the demon wouldn’t give her peace, he wouldn’t receive any in return. [Help... the Power Rangers...]

*****

Moira trapped deep inside her own mind. Tommy and Trini dead or near death. Kim, Rocky, Adam, and Tanya stunned to various degrees by fireballs. There was so much pain all around her, so much suffering. She and Kat alone were untouched, though she wished she was hurt like the rest of them. Pain in her own body might have distracted her from everyone else’s. She had her healing powers back, she wasn’t hurt, and yet there was nothing she could do to help the injured, or to keep Kat from being struck down next. The monstrosity in Moira’s body kept both Rangers stuck to their places by threat of fireball.

Moira was the key, Rita knew. For her, eight Rangers had walked right into what they expected to be a trap, a trap begun by a demon in her brother’s body and carried through in Moira’s own. If only Moira was still fighting the demon from within, then maybe they could do... something. Stop the demon, slow it down, do something to stop any more people from getting hurt.

Rita looked at Moira. The demon seemed content to just hold the two standing Rangers at bay. It was just for the moment, but a small relief to the healer. Moira’s head turned away slightly, and Rita caught a glimmer of something. A sparkling train of liquid down Moira’s cheek, lit up by the green flame in her hand. Tears?

Then Moira hadn’t given up yet! If the demon had already accepted terms, any and all control, however minimal, that Moira still held would have been instantly revoked. The demon certainly wouldn’t be crying. It had to be Moira, the real Moira.

Rita looked to Kat, so anxious to celebrate her findings that she actually considered blabbing to the Pink Ranger. She reconsidered quickly. She couldn’t let the demon know that she knew. Besides, though she knew Moira hadn’t totally given up yet, she didn’t know if Moira would actually fight the demon or help her friends.

"Katherine, shall we dance?” Moira "asked." She sauntered over to the Pink Ranger, making her flame flare brighter for an instant for show. Kat was terrified, but she would stand her ground. She knew she could take at least one dose of green fire without dying, but she didn’t know if the same held true for those already brought down by the fireballs.

"Well? I’m waiting...” Moira whistled a little impatient tune. Rita saw her eyes dart toward her, then back to Kat.

Had she missed something? Rita hoped not. But if Moira was trying to send her a signal, what just then could have been important? It had to be something Rita would recognize, but the demon wouldn’t, at least not right away.

That whistled tune, perhaps? Moira had had her sights set on a theater major before... everything. But one little four tone melody? How was Rita supposed to know something like that? She tried her best to decode the message, playing the tunelet over and over in her head... and quickly! Kat was about to get burned! This was too much! Rita couldn’t concentrate on ond little piece of it all. She felt like she was being nudged in different directions, everything crying "pay attention to me!” at once, and she didn’t know which way to look first, or second, or even at all.

*But Moira must know that. She must know how I’m feeling right now. Lost, confused, panicked... pushed, pulled, shoved...* Rita thought. There was a play largely along those lines – one of the soundtracks Moira played on loop sometimes when only Rita and Trini were home, knowing they wouldn’t get annoyed by the repetition. The play was called "Into the Woods.” The characters, all from famous fairy tales, were constantly lost and trying to find out what they wished, which way to go and how to get there... Rita returned to the melody. The play was drawn from her own feelings, so the individual song that the melody was taken from had to be the clue to Moira’s idea. Right?

It clicked. The tunelet was from "Your Fault,” a song late in the second act. When things take a turn for the worst, the characters try to make sense of it, but in the wrong way: by blaming each other for their current situation. They stop listening to reason or one another, grow angry and distraught, and don’t cooperate... all the things good little demons were made of. "Your Fault” was probably the most confused song in "Into the Woods.” At the end of the song, one character accepted the blame bestowed upon her and silenced their petty arguments, then told her side of it all. This character was the Witch.

It was a cruel play on Rita’s name, but helpful nonetheless. Rita Reylassa, and later Rita Repulssa, was one of the most famous witches of all recorded time. The Witch in "Into the Woods” was the character who actually helped the situation move along after "Your Fault.” Rita was meant to take that role now.

*Oh, yeah, brilliant deduction! Moira expects you to do something about it! What a surprise!* Rita thought sarcastically. It was the something that was the problem. What was it that Moira wanted her to do?

Rita took a very careful look at the current situation, hoping to find the last relations with "Your Fault.” Kat was the fear in the song. Moira was certainly the object of the struggle. Hmm... once she thought to look, Sean seemed awfully nervous out there in the doorway, and the closer his master got to Kat, the more the nervousness seemed to grow. But why would Sean be nervous?

The flame pressed closer to Kat’s face, threatening to lick her nose. Kat held perfectly still, completely frozen in fear. Then Rita saw Moira’s other hand slowly reaching behind Kat’s back, fingers spread out. Another glance at Sean, who was looking more and more nervous with every twitch of Moira’s hand that brought it closer to contact with Kat’s back.

"Uhm, mistress, that may not be a good-” Sean warned at last.

"Shush," Moira said distractedly.

"But the energy..."

"I said shut up!"

Energy! That was the problem! Moira’s body could only carry so much unneeded energy in reserve. Since she had never practiced magic and never tried to push the limit on her reserve energy higher, draining the Red Ranger so completely must have filled her reserves to the brim. Now all that was needed was that one little droplet to push it over the edge. Rita didn’t like the idea of purposely overflowing Moira’s energies, even by just that one droplet, but if she could do it, the demon spirit would sense the approaching crisis and evacuate Moira’s body. But to create the overflow, someone else had to be drained into Moira. Kat was about to be drained anyway, but it would be so dangerous... and Kat, because of her inherited feline strengths, was the one person Rita couldn’t replenish if anything went wrong.

Which meant that Rita was about to do something very brave and quite possibly very, very stupid.

"Hey! You! Spirit!” Rita shouted.

Moira’s hand jerked a little, away from Kat’s back. "Oh do be quiet. Your turn’s coming up.”

"Are you so insecure that you have to prey on magicless weaklings to boost your power?” Rita asked.

The green fire seemed to jump into Moira’s eyes with her anger. She pressed Kat tightly against her body and held her there. The flame in her right hand grew closer at an agonizingly slow rate, finally licking Kat’s nose, then her face. Kat screamed in pain. Moira finally released her and then threw a new flame at her, sending her to the ground in a heap. Another Ranger crawled over to Kat and start checking to make sure there was no permanent damage.

"So, you want me to start picking on the Power-trained?” Moira looked slowly and deliberately from side to side. "Well, you’re the only one I see here. I suppose you either want me to kill you or you’re a complete idiot."

"Yeah, one of those,” Rita agreed. Moira chuckled as she quickly walked over to Rita.

"No, please...” Rocky groaned. Rita felt quick relief that her brother was still too weakened by the green fire blast to interfere. Moira looked down her nose at the Blue Ranger and sent a little flame into his body to keep him immobilized. Rita flinched as she felt Rocky’s pain spike, but she did nothing to help him.

"Now, where were we? Ah, yes. Right about... here!” Moira swept Rita’s legs out from under her, knocking her prone, and pounced on top. Her hands, one on each shoulder, began to glow with an emerald green light... then with a pine green light as Moira began to absorb Rita’s energy.

"Please, mistress, I beg of you..."

"Shut your mouth or die, it makes no difference to me anymore,” Moira said. Rita barely noticed it around her silent string of *pleaseworkpleaseworkpleaseworkpleasework...*

Rita felt the last of her reserve energy leave her body and started to really worry. Why wasn’t it working? Moira’s energies should’ve overflowed by then.

The gross misestimation hit her far too late. Moira’s energies *had* overflowed. The effect just hadn’t hit her yet. Like when Rita drained her energy in healing Trini and herself, Moira wouldn’t feel a thing until she stopped the transfer for several seconds. She could bleed Rita dry before feeling the problem.

Rita tried to push Moira off. Her arms felt like jelly. She wasn’t sure Moira even noticed. She was too weak now to stop this. Why hadn’t she thought this through?!

A fierce cry sounded a second before a third figure plowed into Moira. Moira lost her grip on Rita’s shoulders and was torn away by the distinctly Yellow clad person. Rita let out a sigh of complete and utter relief.

Tanya was all set to fight Moira and to hell with the consequences, but there was no need. She was shocked to see Moira shudder convulsively and drop to the ground. With a moan of horror, Sean dropped his weapon and ran out of the room.

"Hermanita, como estás?" Rocky asked urgently.

How had he gotten there that fast? Rita wondered. Or had it been fast at all? Rita sat up and was blanketed in dizziness. "I’m... I’ll live. Moira?"

"We don’t know what happened to her. She just... collapsed," Rocky answered.

"Good,” Rita sighed. She’d figured it out — finally. Rocky looked at his sister in alarm. "I need to get to her, quickly."

"I’ll help you,” Rocky said. Rita nodded in thanks, and he helped her stand.

"Tommy, I need Tommy too," Rita told her brother.

"Okay, Rita. Just take it easy," Rocky worried.

"I’ll be fine,” Rita said. She slipped, but Rocky quickly caught her.

"Sure you will. Let’s just handle getting over to Moira in one piece for now, okay?" Too tired to disagree, Rita nodded.

By the time they made it to Moira, Tommy was lying next to her. Both were unconscious, but otherwise all right. So far.

Rita forced her thoughts into focus for long enough to determine the problem. "Kim?” she asked. Her leader was at her side quickly enough to make Rita’s head spin. More. "I don’t know what to do."

"Why not?" Kim asked.

Rita took a deep breath and explained. "I can only do one transfer with the energy I have left. If I transfer all of Tommy’s energy out of her and back to him, I’ll be in serious trouble and Moira will still be stuck with my energy. If I... if I don’t recover from the power drain, eventually the foreign mix will hurt her. If I transfer my energy back to me first, either Tommy could die from energy depletion or Moira could die from energy overflow before I can make a second transfer."

Kim took a slow blink before answering. "And… you’re asking me what to do?"

"You’re the leader, aren’t you?"

"My kingdom for an aqua uniform,” Kim muttered. She’d been the Team’s leader since Dulcea noted to them that the color purple was historically used to mark people of importance on Terra. She nibbled on her lip for a moment of thought. "Is it possible for you to take back your energy and complete the second transfer in time?"

"Possible. Not probable. But if I transfer Tommy’s energy instead of mine, only one of us will die.”

Kim looked at the Black Venusian for long seconds. "No,” she said at last. "Damned if I’ll sacrifice you when there’s a chance we all make it out."

Rita held her leader’s gaze for a brief, frightened moment. “You believe in me that much?” she whispered.

A smile – a real, unshadowed smile – burst across Kim’s face. It seemed supernatural in that grim and pain-soaked place. “Always.”

Rita started the transfer. While she was pulling her energy out of Moira, she felt a brief, instinctual feeling that the danger to Moira had passed. After the first wave of dizziness, her body’s way of saying, "Hey, did you know that you have a lot more energy now than you did a second ago?” had passed, Rita said, "I think the demnen’s left her body."

"We know it has,” Kat said. "Unfortunately, there are only two people here who can see this demon: Moira and Sean."

“Well that’s fine,” Rita griped. She knew why: a free-floating Demnen was invisible to anyone it hadn’t previously possessed. It could be anywhere. That was a problem she definitely couldn’t help with.

Rocky felt an odd, not quite painful sensation in the small of his back. He’d never felt anything quite like it, and his guard was still raised against odd things. He was about to say something to the Rangers when he heard a voice inside his head. It was an odd blend of male and female voices and something else unidentifiable. Its message chilled him to the bone.

[Keep your mouth shut and I’ll make this easy for you, Ranger. Make another sound and it’ll be Hell.]

"It could be anywhere now, but I’m guessing it left altogether when it realized how we tricked it," Adam said.

*Or not. Dios,* Rocky thought in shock and horror. The demon spirit was trying to take over his body. He opened his mouth to tell the Rangers, but for one reason or another it closed before any sound made it to them. He tried again, but this time his mouth wasn’t even pretending to work for him.

He heard a chuckle inside his mind. [God had nothing to do with this, mijo.]

"Come on, Rita, just once more," Kim urged.

"I can’t. I told you I wouldn’t be able to. I’m too tired,” Rita whispered. Her eyes were sliding in and out of focus as she tried to brace herself in a sitting position.

"Rita, listen to me. You can do this. It’s entirely up to you whether or not Tommy and Moira die. If you do one more transfer very quickly, you won’t have to do anything else for the rest of the day, promise," Kim added.

"Bribery.” Rita gave a weak smile. "I’ll try."

Kim sat back as Rita slowly started the last transfer. She caught Rocky out of the corner of her eye as she leaned back. He was the only one not trying to help someone in some way. She frowned with concern and scooted up to him. "Hey Rock, is everything okay?"

"Hmm? Oh, Kim, it’s you. Sure, everything’s perfect,” Rocky said. "If you’ll excuse me, I wanted to go check on Trini.” Kim nodded and backed off. He stood and walked to the still Morphed Ninjetti Ranger. What a uniquely perfect opportunity to determine the long term aftereffects of his nightmares’ poison on a living being...

The white to Red transfer beam finally broke off. The transferer didn’t even try to stay awake after the deed was done. Rita was unconscious before the transferees began to show signs of waking.

Moira slowly opened her eyes. She knew that the demon had been in trouble when she blacked out, but had it handled that problem and recovered control of her body, or was she free?

Above her she saw only blackness, however. Panicked, she looked to one side and thought she saw something Red moving slightly.

"Moira,” a somethingness called to her on her other side. Moira looked that way and saw a purple somethingness.

"Is it gone?” she asked Kimberly. The spirit could still just be playing a game with her...

Kim nodded. "The bastard ran away. Welcome back."

Moira smiled very softly with relief. The Witch had come through for her.

*****

Meanwhile, in Angel Grove proper, a blond-haired boy teen panted with fright. He carefully turned the unconscious Gold Ranger over on his back from where he’d landed on the living room rug. Jason would be out for awhile.

Billy sighed a little and tried to calm down. He’d panicked when the new holder of the Golden Power had followed him there. When Jason accused him of precisely what he was guilty of, Billy’d struck so fast that even Jason’s reflexes hadn’t saved him. Fortunately, there would be plenty of time now to figure out how to handle this latest Golden problem.

He walked to his phone and dialed a long, familiar string of numbers with slightly shaky hands. It rang three times before anyone answered it, doing nothing to calm his nerves.

[What is it? And this had better be good. Zordon’s monitoring all communications lines right now, possibly even ours,] a very familiar male voice said.

"The new Gold Ranger has found me out,” he replied.

[Dammit, how?!]

"If I knew that, I might stand a chance of figuring out how to handle this. Jason’s unconscious right now."

[You...?]

Billy swallowed. “Yeah. Me.”

[Huh. That’s- no, not important.] The other sighed and went on, [How much does he know for certain?]

"For certain?” Billy thought a moment. "He knows about the two of us at least. I’m not sure about the other two, but with Trey’s knowledge anything’s possible. I think he got some of this through the transfer of the Golden Power, enough to make him suspicious. I don’t know if you can erase the knowledge, and I’m really not sure I’d be okay with that. But we have to handle him now, one way or another."

[Well... I don’t know. He might be a great help to us, but only if he’s willing to join us against the Rangers. Don’t describe it to him like that, of course. You know Jason better than I. If you think he might agree to it, tell him the whole truth when he wakes. But if you see a significant risk that he’ll just go blab to his teammates, it would be better to wipe his memory now. I’m leaving the final decision up to you. Power Chamber out.]

Billy reluctantly hung up the phone, not sure how much his friend had actually helped. He heard Jason’s groans as he started to wake in the other room. Billy stared in the direction of the semi conscious Ranger, trying to quickly decide whether to welcome him in or cut him off forever.

*****

Nightmare chitters assailed Moira’s ears as she and the other Rangers finally got within sight of the exit of the demon’s now abandoned base. *Oh won’t they just go away already?* Moira asked herself uselessly. The Rangers only had to be just outside the edge of the base to get past the more powerful communicator block and be able to leave by teleportation, so it would be relatively easy to get back to the Command Center, but the nightmares were going to fray Moira’s nerves even if she only thought she might have heard one nightmare screech from a *very* safe distance. She shivered at the unaccustomed chill of the night air whooshing in through the open door.

"Why are they running away?” someone asked. Moira stepped closer to the edge of the shack entrance and saw the last nightmare running away into the forest. Her brow furrowed.

"They’re... confused. They know something’s gone wrong,” she said at length.

"But how could they know that?" Tanya asked.

Moira searched her mind and found the answer glaring at her with big red eyes. "My mental link with them is still active, but they can tell I’m not their master anymore. It’s sending them into shock. Wherever the demon ran to, it didn’t establish a new link with them there."

"Maybe it’s really dead," Adam offered.

"I don’t think so," Rocky said just loudly enough to be heard.

"There’s something else, too...” Moira trailed off, straining for the information through her deteriorating mental link with the grotesque little demons.

Kim screamed up ahead, sending everyone standing on his or her feet running for her. Each Ranger stopped dead on sight.

"Are you o...?” Tommy began to ask just before he saw what Kim had screamed about.

"Yeah... sorry, I just...” Kim broke off, still staring at the thing.

"No, Moira! Stop her!” Trini cried to the approaching white Ranger, then her teammates. Moira dodged expertly to walk into the ring of Rangers.

For a brief moment, horror gripped her. It was a body, totally grayed. Skin, clothes, hair... that same hair that had earned him so many fans among the Academy girls was now turned solid gray by nightmare poison. Oh, yes, he was completely dead now. But her brother had been dead for months. Why should this sight bother her at all? She tried hard to believe herself that it shouldn’t, because whatever lay under that facade was utterly terrifying.

"Moira... I’m so sorry," Trini said quietly.

Moira didn’t manage a cheerful smile, but her face went blank. "About what? All that died today was the mindless servant of an insane demon."

Rocky’s fists clenched. Moira was going to die first, and longest.

Moira walked further out into the field. "Let’s go, shall we?" she said indifferently.

Kim and Rita, the latter beginning to recover from the double-drain far earlier than they’d expected, exchanged concerned glances. There was no way Moira could be handling everything that had occured that day as she appeared to be. Moira was hiding from them. Again.

*****

As one, the nine Rangers teleported into the Power Chamber. Jason and Billy were both in the room already.

"Hey, guys. How’d it go?" Billy asked with a warm smile.

The Rangers exchanged a wide range of glances at the casual question.

Moira stared at the two for a moment, feeling her self control deteriorate. "Excuse me,” she whispered as she ran out the Power Chamber’s side doors.

Billy shrank back at the scowl he got from Rita before she left to follow her friend.

Rocky, having seen all that he needed to, asked to take Trini to the infirmary and left with the unconscious girl.

"Did I say something wrong?" Billy asked meekly.

Kim shook her head slightly and looked away.

Jason smiled at Billy reassuringly and quickly picked up a two inch high medium sized square box. He looked up to find Zordon looking at them both approvingly.

The box appeared in Billy’s hands. He made a protesting sound, but Jason pushed him toward the Venusians’ leader before Billy could pass the box back to him.

Jason cleared his throat, telling Billy to speak up and drawing Kim’s attention in their direction at the same time.

"Uh... peace offering?” Billy said uncertainly. He opened the lid of the box.

Kim’s breath caught in her throat. Inside rested five sparkling new communicators, one each decorated in purple, green, orange, black, and white. She never got to ask Billy to fix their communicators before they left to rescue Moira, and here he was with five brand new communicators!

"Thank you!” Kim cried, bear hugging Billy. His face was bright red by the time she pulled away, making her giggle just a little. He mumbled something involving thanking Jason as well because he helped make them.

Tanya gave Jason a funny look. The Jason she’d heard about, the Jason she was just getting to know, would not have abandoned his place in a high stakes mission to rescue another Ranger just so he could help Billy make communicators. "We needed your help and this is what you stayed behind for?” she asked him bluntly.

Jason looked uncomfortable. "Well, not... exactly."

Billy shot him a subtle warning look. Jason was entirely too new at this lying thing to take anywhere.

Luckily for them, the issue was dropped. Kat and Ish beckoned mysteriously to Tanya. Both looked unusually prone to giggling. She looked around uncertainly before joining them. They whispered a few words to her and her whole face lit up, the singer in her greatly aroused by the proposition. Kat and Ish started to set their communicators, but Tanya motioned to them to stop. She walked away from them and caught Kim by the sleeve, herding her over to the other girls.

Kim definitely seemed to approve when she was told the same thing that Kat and Ish had said to Tanya. However, when they prepared to teleport, Kim shook her head and walked out of the group. They started to protest, surprised, but Kim turned back to them and nodded at Jason with a tiny quirk of a smile. Getting her message that she had business first, the other three left without her.

Kim walked to where Jason and Billy stood. She whispered something just loud enough for the two to hear. Jason looked uncomfortable as he whispered back his reply. Kim carefully explained to him what she was asking him to do and Jason looked at her with a mix of "are you sure?” and "do I have to?” Kim looked at him sharply for a moment, then her expression softened and her voice lowered further until Billy couldn’t hear what she said not three feet away. She looked up at Jason imploringly as she finished, and Jason’s resistance to her proposal crumbled. He closed his eyes and nodded. He couldn’t refuse to at least try to help.

Billy and Jason watched as Kim disappeared in a purple streak, both wondering when their "little sister” had grown up.

Jason said something to Billy, also very quietly, though only Alpha and Zordon remained in the Power Chamber to overhear them.

"Good luck,” Billy called after him as Jason left the Power Chamber through the same exit Moira and Rita had both used.

"You, too."

Billy soon left as well, mumbling something about needing to do something to something that neither remaining being quite heard.

Zordon and Alpha looked at each other.

"Do you ever feel like we don’t know everything the Rangers are up to?"

"ALL THE TIME, ALPHA."

*****

Jason entered a hallway and bumped into Rita going the other way, back toward the Power Chamber. He caught her to stop her fall.

"Thank ” Rita began, but stopped when Jason put his finger to his lips and motioned in the direction she’d just come from. He didn’t want Moira to hear his approach. Rita sighed softly.

"She’s that way. I would not try to talk to her, though. She’s completely closed up to me, and she’s known me a lot longer than you," Rita warned quietly.

"Kim told me that would happen. I have to try," Jason said.

"Leader’s orders?” Rita asked, curious. He nodded and walked past the black Ninjetti. She thought a moment, then turned and caught his arm before he turned the next corner.

"What?"

Rita looked at him carefully. Kim’s judgment was rarely wrong, but her leader also had no idea what it was like to go through trauma like she and Moira had faced. Rita was inclined to think Kim was making the right call that Jason could help, but she wasn’t comfortable letting Jason try with as little as he knew. "You don’t get why Moira’s like this, do you?”

Jason hesitated. “I mean, she’s been through a lot,” he hedged.

Rita pulled on his shirt sleeve and walked toward the Power Chamber. The last thing she needed was for Moira to hear them conspiring for her better health.

“As I hear it,” Rita started, “you’ve been a Ranger for a long time, but nothing has happened to you or yours like what’s happened to Moira. Is that right?” Jason nodded. “So I guess you feel like you’d bounce back.”

Jason frowned. “No. I mean, it would be really hard.” Rita just held his gaze skeptically for a long moment until he found his frustration. “But it’s like she’s hiding from everybody. She puts up this false front. I don’t get that. If that happened to me…” He hesitated. Rita motioned for him to continue. “I’d find some way. If something happened to my Team, I know they’d want me to get better. Find people to help me. She just pushes people away.”

Rita nodded. To his relief, Rocky’s sister didn’t look offended. "Most people don’t get her. Sometimes I think Trini and Ish don’t, really, yet. They weren’t there when Kim and I found her. Moira broke. The amount of hell it took to break her… Once in a long while, we catch glimpses of who she was. Kim says it reminds her a lot of you.”

Jason blinked. “Me?”

“So strong you kept all the geeks and misfits safe from bullies. Signed up to be a superhero right off because it was the right thing to do. Faced down every threat bravely. Is that about right?”

Jason looked uncomfortable, and his cheeks glowed a little as he nodded. “I guess so.”

“Once someone with that kind of strength breaks... I can’t tell you the details she left off of the story she told your team. That would be wrong, even if it would help her. But you have to know that there’s a lot more that happened to her, and she wasn’t all even-keel about any of it like she was acting. She was trying to protect you.”

Jason frowned. “Protect us?”

Rita let out a heavy sigh. “Moira thinks she’s under a curse. A real, magical thing. I can’t say for sure that she’s not, because I don’t know that much magic – but I can’t feel anything active on her. More, Dulcea checked it out and said it wasn’t real, and she’s as expert as they come. Moira can’t let go of the idea, though. Over the last two years, literally everyone she cared about has died or worse. She’s still moving, still fighting against evil – but the curse is how what she’s been through shows. The idea is that it’s not a coincidence everyone she cared about is gone. All those people had one thing in common: her.”

Jason frowned. “What – you mean she thinks today was her fault? Plus a bunch of murders?” He wanted to laugh at the idea, but Rita looked so serious.

“Yeah. I do,” Rita said. “Maybe one of her torturers told her as much, but it could be that she came up with the idea on her own, trying to make sense of so much death and pain. What she’s been through…” Rita paused and looked squarely at Jason. “You know Scorpina.”

Somehow he knew she meant more than whether he’d faced Scorpina in battle. Her level gaze asked if he “knew” Scorpina on some kind of level like she did – personally. He gulped. How had she guessed?

For him, Scorpina was different from a normal villain. He’d never told anyone what Scorpina had told him about the Power and the wider universe when he’d been captured on his own two years ago, but from that experience he knew that Scorpina was far more powerful and complicated than she let on. He nodded.

“You have an idea how cruel she is, how creative?” At his nod, Rita said, “I was her slave for 5 years. Through that whole time, she was trying to break me. I didn’t go through half the pain Moira did.”

Jason just sat with that concept for a long moment.

"When Kim and I took her in was the first time in a landslide of terrible when she was able to hold on to someone without that person dying or moving out of reach. No one’s come looking for her in all the time she’s lived with us. She’s got no one left to look.

“We’ve all tried to help her heal, but all we can do in the end is keep her stable and make sure she has a future she can see. We hoped she’d get better on her own that way, but a few friends she keeps out at arm’s length aren’t enough to prove to her she’s not cursed. But if someone she could trust, who could remind her of who she was, became more than a friend to her..."

Jason’s head shot up, and Rita let the sentence drop. She stood. "Forgive me. I only meant to catch you up on facts,” Rita said. Jason rose, eyeing her curiously. "If you want to try and help Moira get over her past, please, go find her. Kim sent you, and I trust her with my life and my friend’s sanity. But you can never quit once you’ve made the first effort. Moira can’t deal with another loss, not the loss of someone she might have had feelings for, especially not if she can see the ending as somehow her fault. There would be nothing left of her. Either go to her now and stay by her always, as her friend or as... more... or stay the hell away from my Teammate."

Rita moved aside so that Jason could pass. She kept both eyes locked on him like a predator, waiting for the slightest weakness from him to attack. Jason was not so shaken, though, that his judgement became clouded. He’d known all along, really, what choice would be better for both of them.

Jason gently pushed past Rita and continued down the hall to Moira.

A prick of a smile danced across Rita’s lips as Jason rounded the corner out of sight.

*****

Moira had finally given in to the tears once she was sure that no one else was coming to try to talk her out of it. She felt dirty, cheap, disgusting, and not just because she lacked the self-control to stop crying.

"Moira?” a now familiar voice asked softly. Moira’s head shot up from between her folded knees. She very nearly started bawling again when she saw that Jason stood in front of her. Of all the people that could have seen her cry, Jason was at the absolute bottom of the "okay” list.

She futilely but furiously dabbed at the tears, desperate to stop the flow of liquid emotion. To see her emotions was to discover their cause, to discover their cause was to understand her, to understand her was to get close to her, to get close to her was to die.

"Moira, it’s okay,” Jason said tenderly, kneeling next to her.

"Go away,” she demanded, her sobs sending ripples through the words.

"Why?"

"Because I asked you to!"

Jason gently took hold of one of her hands, ceasing its constant dabbing. She jerked her hand back roughly.

"I don’t n... I don’t nee...” Moria found to her horror that she couldn’t speak the lie to Jason. She did need him. Maybe he would... help? Was that possible?

No. Even if he could help, she wouldn’t let him. It was too dangerous. Everyone she’d ever let inside her soul was dead now. She wouldn’t let it happen again. She would never let anyone in, not unless she knew that her curse had been lifted. That was probably never going to happen.

"Please, Moira. Why won’t you let me help?” Jason asked, pretending he didn’t already know. He watched her with deep concern as her body convulsed again and again with violent, soundless sobs. He decided to gamble. "Look at me and tell me you don’t want my help, or my insight, or my friendship, and I’ll leave you alone – forever."

Moira turned to face him, and he thought she was about to accept. Her head stayed down until the last moment, when she slowly lifted it to look into his eyes. The teardrops stopped flowing down her cheeks, the few remaining on her heart shaped face catching the lights almost magically. A short red curlicue fell out of her low ponytail to wisp across her face and down into her olive green eyes, eyes still glistening with unshed tears. Yes, she was beautiful, and that stirred passions that had never found Jason before. He felt in that moment he could devote his life to staring into her eyes.

It was more than that, though. He hardly knew her... but what he knew was incredible. The way she’d risked her life to stop him when he’d been out of his mind was bolder and more creative than he’d ever seen. He would have risked as much if their positions had been reversed, but he wasn’t sure he could have pulled off what she had. And then there was her pain. She was hurting so much inside, so much more than she should have to. The idea she thought these terrible events were her own fault tore him up inside. There had to be a way to let her see the tragedies in her past as just tragedies, as just the past. He would find it no matter what.

If only she’d let him.

Jason’s perfect brown eyes greeted hers as she lifted her head to tell him to go away. In seconds, she was lost in his handsome face, studying every feature, feeling a fascination that she hadn’t in a year. Jason had grabbed the key to her soul, stolen it from the sacred place where it had rested since Will and Sean had died, and with that key unleashed something as criminal as his theft. A feeling came unbidden, unwanted, and swept across her, stirring her true emotions and bringing them so close to the surface that they threatened to break through, changing everything inside her until, as it left, she wondered how she’d gone so long without its gentle caress. She would not admit to herself what that feeling was that had turned her upside down... or right side up... but as she looked at him she knew that she could not do as he asked. She could not turn him away. A sob made of pure emotion fled from her lips and reached Jason’s ears even as she realized how hard it would be to keep her emotions under lock and key around Jason. Just how committed was she to keeping her curse from being fulfilled again? She couldn’t, couldn’t let him get hurt...

…and she was tired. Bone weary. Shredded. She knew she was only still moving on habit and the drops of kindness from her teammates she’d let soak in. How much longer could she keep running?

Jason’s hand brushed against hers, then gently he took it in both of his. He could see the pressure build up behind her eyes until at last, with a tiny nudge in the small of her back from one of his hands, she collapsed into his arms in a shaking, sobbing heap.

"I killed them," she choked out at length.

"No way,” Jason said softly. "You didn’t kill anybody. If Sean hadn’t gone to the caves without you, he would have been fine."

"But it was his nature to explore,” Moira protested weakly.

"And it was yours to find the good in a day and hold on to it no matter what,” Jason replied.

Moira looked at him in astonishment. "How could you...” Surprise sharpened into fear. “N no, no... that girl was a murderer. She’s dead. Don’t try to bring her back. She deserves only the same death she brought others."

"Have you ever picked up a weapon to strike down your friends with?" Jason asked.

Moira stared at him. She slowly started to shake her head. "I... killed them by letting them know me too well... by letting them into my soul,” she whispered.

"I don’t know about that. I feel like I’ve known you forever and I’m just fine. Does it usually take forever for this curse of yours to take effect?"

More tears built up behind her eyes, but now she let them flow. It was true. She barely knew him and she had already let him in. She couldn’t hide from Jason, and she didn’t want to. She’d finally gotten too weak and let someone close. She shrugged helplessly. It was the only answer she had for him.

After a few minutes, Jason spoke again, a little louder and a lot more cheerfully. "Since it is the second anniversary of your Avian Rangers’ founding, shouldn’t we go celebrate?"

"Celebrate?” she mouthed the word as though it was a foreign concept.

"Why not?” Jason asked. "I know this great place. Ernie’s Juice Bar, in the Youth Center. All the Angel Grove Rangers hang out there. I could show you around."

Moira started to smile a little. "Why not?” she echoed. She sniffed and spoke again, sounding a bit more cheerful, but not fake like the sweet little smiles she’d showered them in over the last few days. She sounded more like herself, but tentatively happy instead of fierce or sad. "Good God, why not? It sounds... great."

"Wonderful," Jason smiled as he stood.

"Thank you,” she said softly, two words she meant more than most of the words she’d spoken since her mentor Angela left Earth. As he helped her to her feet, Moira thought to him, *I do have something to celebrate. I don’t know why, but I trust you. You can help me put away the ghosts. Please, just don’t leave me.*

As the black and white teleportation lights faded, a green light took their place. Rocky walked around the corner, a smokeless green flame burning casually above his hand. He leaned against the wall, glaring at the place where Moira had begun her healing process after he’d worked so hard to make sure she would never heal. The flame flared brighter in anger, and part of him wished that he’d thrown it while she and Jason still sat there, burned them both to death. But that wouldn’t do, not anymore. After Rita’s speech and now this, he’d changed his plans. Moira would not die first. She would die last, after he forced her to watch all her new friends’ murders and made her believe that every last death was her fault. Who knew? Maybe, after her mind was permanently shattered, he’d enslave her body again.

"There will be nothing left of you,” Rocky murmurred with a bitter smile.

He blew a tiny green flame kiss to the camera recording dutifully the whole scene from one corner. It exploded in a shower of green flame. Rocky held up one pointer finger like the barrel of a gun and blew out the little flame that rested on top of it for just that purpose. It was delightful to share a body with a spirit who knew the value of fun, pure and simple, even if that spirit was fighting him with all its puny little might. They’d be having lots of fun very, very soon.

"Catch you later, sister dearest,” he smiled.

THE END