Chapter Text
It seemed Evil decided to give the Rangers a break after they rescued Moira Douglas from demonic forces. Billy invented a device to remove the forgetfulness spell that had blanketed the “black forest” within Angel Grove Park almost immediately after the Rangers returned from it. The Zeos, in Morph, told the Angel Grove people about the black forest, and everyone now knew to avoid that part of the park until something more could be done about the remaining nightmares. It was an unusual kind of problem for the people of Angel Grove – ongoing rather than quickly resolved – but they were up to the challenge.
The Rangers, Zeo and Venusian both, relaxed a bit after the message was out and more nightmare-caused deaths were much less likely. At first, they took shifts with one Ranger from each Team watching the two most common paths in, to make sure everyone had heard and didn’t stray inside, but the people learned fast enough that the Rangers soon got to give up that quite boring job. Four days after the warning went out and with nightmare sightings on a steady decline, life for the six Rangers of Earth and five visiting Venusians was pretty good.
At three o’clock that afternoon, Tommy Oliver, Jason Lee Scott, Aisha Campbell, and Adam Park were spotted rollerblading around downtown Angel Grove. Kimberly Ann Hart, Katherine Hillard, Moira Douglas, and Tanya Sloan had taken over the Hillard residence, still talking out their ideas before bringing them to anyone else. Rocky DeSantos and Rita DeSantos were catching up on what they had missed of each other in the probably-safe parts of Angel Grove Park. Trini Kwan and Billy Cranston were doing the same in a very different setting.
*****
Billy's head reappeared from under a computer console. It was frowning.
“What's wrong?” Trini asked. She knelt next to the genius. They were all alone in the Power Chamber. She’d gone to some small effort to ensure they would be, asking Zordon and Alpha to stay scarce unless there was an attack. She’d thought to do right away what she was intending, but Billy had rushed into showing her around the Power Chamber with such Billylike “I have a new project to show off!” enthusiasm that she’d followed his eagerness instead.
“Well, I *was* going to show you the system, but I think it has a glitch in it somewhere,” the former Blue Ranger said in frustration. “It won't access a certain video record from about five days ago. I don't know what the problem could be. I just ran a full systems check a few hours ago and everything checked out perfectly.”
Trini thought a moment. “Are you sure it's the computer and not just that one video record that's messed up?”
“That was my original theory, but it's hard to verify when the computer won't get anywhere close to it. I told it to examine the record for flaws. I don't know if it will, though.”
“Well, it's not like it was anything important, right?”
Billy shrugged. “Probably not.”
*This is fine. Just like this. I don't have to say anything to him right now. Or today, for that matter,* Trini thought to herself. Then she caught herself trying to back out again and reprimanded herself. *Since when have I cheated on a promise?* She looked at Billy, already working on another console. She took a deep breath and stood.
“Billy? I have something to tell you.”
*****
Rocky — or, rather, the demon laying low in his body — was anxious. Going to the Park alone with Rocky's sister had been a bad idea. She’d invited him on a walk, and he couldn’t refuse without it looking suspicious, so he had gone. He’d expected it to be easier, though: she kept asking questions that he hadn't thought to find out the answers to ahead of time. By the time he beat the answer out of Rocky's battered, but not broken, spirit, he had invariably taken too long to answer the question and was met with a suspicious look from Rita.
“Rocky, are you feeling all right?” Rita asked at last.
“Hmm?”
“Hermano, por favor. What is wrong?” Rita asked, concern growing on her face.
“Nothing's wrong!” Rocky said, forcing a laugh. Rita gave him another look. That tactic wasn't going to work. He sighed. “All right, hermanita. I'm really kinda tired. I didn't want to say anything because... I want to spend time with you.” Rocky edged closer to her.
A softer, kinder expression lit her face. “Oh, I see. Well, that's okay then. I thought something was really wrong for a minute.”
He winced just slightly as Rocky's spirit gave a vicious “kick” that he spitefully noted to punish him for later. The Blue Zeo was a rather unruly prisoner.
“Now you go and get some rest. We can talk more later,” Rita said kindly.
Rocky smiled a little sheepishly. “Thanks.”
Rita stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. Startled, Rocky jerked away.
Rita frowned, but not as suspiciously as before. “You *are* tired. I will keep you no longer. Now, go.”
“But what about you?” he asked, trying to approximate caring.
“I think I will go see what Kimberly is up to,” Rita smiled. She knew exactly what Kim and most of the other girls were up to. Since Rocky had to get some sleep, she was going to go join in the fun.
“Well... okay. Hasta luego, hermanita.”
“Hasta luego.”
He watched her teleport, then began to think. While Zordon and Alpha were out of the Power Chamber for reasons unknown, he'd better go check on a little loose end he'd left behind. Billy probably would still be there, as he practically lived there, and if he was... so much the better. Rocky could kill two birds with one stone.
With that happy thought, he left. His teleportation stream glowed bright blue with thin tendrils of green twined through.
*****
“Billy?”
He didn't even look up at her.
“Billy?” Trini repeated, unwilling to believe that Billy had heard her before and was ignoring her.
This time, he brushed past her to another computer console. Trini frowned and followed.
“Billy!” Trini exclaimed, pulling his hand away from the console.
That got his attention. “What's the big idea?” he cried, jerking his arm out of her grip.
“Billy, I called your name three times. What's wrong?” Trini demanded, feeling rejected.
Billy turned away before she could see his expression. “Nothing's wrong. I just didn't hear you.”
Trini gaped at him as he went back to the computer, astonished. He hadn’t even tried to make the lie sound sincere.
Before she could call him on it, Billy asked without looking up, “What was it you wanted to say?”
“Billy...” Trini paused. “Billy, look at me.”
He reluctantly turned away from the console.
Trini took another deep breath and started again. “Billy, two years ago I made a promise that I never kept. Every time I tried to, either there was another monster attack or I just lost my nerve. And then when we were selected to go to the Peace Conference in Geneva, I was afraid that even if it turned out okay the distance would ”
“What's the promise?” Billy asked impatiently.
Trini tried to calm down. “You remember when I was being held by Zedd so that he could create his evil Yellow Ranger?”
“Um... oh, sure.”
“When I found out about Evelyn and Zordon, Evelyn made me promise to tell you... how I feel about you.” There. She'd got it out.
A puzzled look flashed across Billy's face. “Okay. How do you feel about me?”
Trini looked into his beautiful dove blue eyes. Her doubt disappeared. “I love you, Billy. I fell in love with you the day we met, all those years ago, and I've loved you every day of my life since.”
Billy stared back at Trini in total, unadulterated shock. The expression didn't change as the seconds passed and Trini's face started to crumble.
“Don't you have anything to say to me?” she whispered desperately. She couldn't have finally confessed for nothing...
Suddenly, Billy seemed far more desperate than she. He glanced at a side door leading out of the Power Chamber as if searching for an escape. “I ”
[Good God, why not? It sounds... great.]
They looked at each other in confusion. Billy realized the source of Moira's voice first. “It's the tape,” he said excitedly. “The computer fixed it.”
[Wonderful,] Jason's voice said happily.
“Observe the Viewing Globe,” Billy said in exaggerated, overdramatic tones. Trini and Billy turned and observed the scene being displayed on the viewing “globe” screen set in to one wall. From a bird's eye view, they saw Jason help Moira to her feet in an anonymous hallway in the Power Chamber structure.
[Thank you,] Moira said softly and sincerely, gazing at Jason with a little spark in her eyes that gave Trini a jolt. She knew now why Moira had perked up over the past few days. The other girls must have convinced Jason to talk to Moira while Trini was still unconscious from their last fight with Sean. The surprising part was that Moira had listened.
The tape showed Jason and Moira teleporting out together in black edged Gold and sparkling white columns of light. The image wavered momentarily.
“What was that?” Trini asked Billy.
“We're nearing the end of the record, I guess. That's odd. Records usually run much longer than that.”
“Maybe that's what threw the computer off.”
Billy shook his head slowly. The whole situation was such a marvelous mystery that it was hard to discount anything, but that just didn't sound right. He was the one with the instinct for this sort of puzzle, after all.... “I don't think so. The computer shouldn't get hung up on...”
Trini gasped. Billy looked at her, as frozen in shock as he'd been a moment earlier, then at the scene on the Viewing Globe. A blue clothed figure had just walked into view. He tried Trini again, confused. So Rocky was listening in on them during their special conversation. That was bad, but didn't warrant that kind of reaction from Trini.
“What?”
Trini glanced at him, quickly returning her eyes to the screen. “God, Billy, can't you see it? In his right hand.”
Billy squinted. He realized abruptly that the images were blurring together a little. He blinked and found that his eyes were so tired they burned with the split second of relief. He grimaced. He must not have gotten much sleep last night. *Much? I don't think you went to bed at all last night,* he thought to himself with a frown. “Not really,” Billy admitted.
“There's a little green flame in Rocky's hand that looks exactly like one of the fireballs the girls described.”
“Fireballs?” Billy repeated. His eyes widened. “But that's the demon's mark!”
“They never found where it went after it left Moira. Billy, we've got to do something. Rocky's been possessed.”
“Without any of us noticing?”
“Billy! Just because you forgot your glasses doesn't mean my eyes aren't working!” Trini growled. She sounded far closer to her animal spirit in voice than he'd ever heard, and he wondered if he'd accidentally hit a nerve. “Rocky's in danger. Rita's in danger! Everyone's in danger!”
They saw the tape being shown turn brown and caught a flash of the green flame consuming it and the rest of the surveillance system just before the Viewing Globe itself exploded outward.
Trini screamed, ducked, and covered, pulling Billy down with her. One glass fragment nicked Trini's arm and one slid deep into Billy's upper thigh, but the rest passed by them harmlessly.
“You're in danger,” a too familiar voice oozed. Trini stood immediately and Billy, the blood from his cut already staining his jeans, looked up from where he sat to see his assailant's face.
“Get out of here.” Trini's voice had dropped a full octave. “Leave Rocky alone!”
Rocky's eyes glanced left and right before focusing back on Trini, as if making sure she really was talking to him in that tone of voice. “Now I *really* thought I got rid of the annoyance of You last time. Like I need another reason to kill Moira,” Rocky laughed bitterly. “The weird thing is, none of Moira's friends will ever just *die* like they're supposed to, and yet it was so easy to convince her that her loved ones were dropping like flies and it was 'all her fault.' A little spirit shredding, a small mishap with a Stewart aunt, and suddenly she has a lovely little complex. I wonder what your deaths will do to her?” Rocky laughed again, pulling pain onto both Trini and Billy's faces. His voice was Rocky's, but that laugh was far from human.
“You killed her aunt and cousin?” Trini asked, disgusted.
“Eh, I killed a lotta people,” Rocky said, dismissing the heavy tone of her accusation with an idle wave. His eyes glowed green and a predatory smile flicked on his lips. “But guess what? You two will be the first ones I get to kill in this body.”
“Rocky, please. Fight the demon. Kick it out. I know you can do it,” Trini pleaded. She couldn't let Rocky commit murder, even so unwillingly. The guilt could destroy him when he was freed.
A fireball struck Trini in the chest. She fell to the ground in pain.
“Trini!” Billy cried with a sudden, sharp wave of true emotion.
“Idiot Ranger! Rocky doesn't know how to fight me! That's why I chose him!”
Forgetting his own injury, Billy tried to get to his feet, but he stopped short when he saw a flame hovering two inches in front of his face. He tried backing away, but the independent flame followed, staying precisely the same distance from the tip of his nose.
Only half of Rocky's mouth rose into a sickly smile. He could feel the spirit that he'd been torturing for the past five days squirming around inside his mind, trying to find the way to fight. The real Rocky was rapidly getting too close for comfort, but if he acted now and made him see Trini and Billy's deaths at his own hands, he might break the native spirit forever.
Rocky pulled his hand back a little and the flame edged away from Billy's face, as if drawn by a string held in Rocky's hand. As it pulled away, the flame became larger and brighter, more capable of killing instead of just hurting.
Billy took advantage of the little show meant to scare him and, ignoring the pain in his leg, got to his feet. He turned tail and ran out the door that he had wanted to use as an escape from Trini's confession earlier.
“But hey!” Rocky protested as Billy disappeared. He hadn't expected Billy to abandon Trini. He threw the flame, but the door had closed and instead it only seared the metal.
Trini groaned a little, accidentally drawing Rocky's attention back to her. The Ninjetti Ranger was trying to pull herself to her feet. Rocky grinned and sauntered over to her. She looked up blearily.
He slid a hand under her jaw. Her eyes widened in comprehension and fear. She managed to kick Rocky away, breaking the still-forming link. She tried again to stand but fell from a sudden extreme wave of dizziness. Rocky’s link had just gone into effect.
Rocky smiled as the contents of Trini’s memory fled swiftly through his mind. He picked out the parts he wanted and saved them. Once the mind scan was complete, Trini shook her head, trying to clear it, but she was so drained by the link that she only succeeded in making the room spin.
“Trini,” Rocky whispered in her ear. She whipped around, nearly falling on her back from dizziness because of it. Rocky moved to her other side. He chuckled. “I knew you had a secret. Most Rangers do.”
Two fingers floated in front of her rich brown eyes. Her jaw tightened with realization. He grinned.
“What are you going to do now? We know what you are,” Trini said.
“Indeed. But there’s no proof, not anymore. If you were to suddenly disappear, your friends would have no way of finding out about me — until too late.”
The doors opened. Before Rocky could register who it was, the new arrival was on top of him.
“Trini, get out of here!” Billy yelled, desperately trying to keep Rocky away from the green Venusian.
“No, I won't leave you!”
Rocky grabbed Billy's wrist and started to crush it. Trini cried out as if Billy's pain was her own and tried to get between them to break Rocky's grip. “Stop, please!” she cried to Rocky.
Suddenly, all three were teleported out of the building in a blaze of white, blue, and green light.
*****
“Cut it a little closer next time, why don't ya?” Rocky complained, the first sound Billy heard after he landed.
“Well sor ry, the Power Chamber does have shields, you know,” a familiar voice retorted.
Billy's head shot up. He knew that voice, and if someone asked him who he wanted to hear right now, the absolute bottom of the list would be Prince Gasket.
They’d been teleported to a beach. It wasn't one he recognized, but he hadn't exactly done a lot of lazying around beaches lately. It looked to be a fairly average Angel Grove vicinity beach — wet water, dry sand, the obligatory monster or two — but no Gasket was in sight. The Cogs that surrounded him, however, were enough evidence to suffice. Two of the metal foot soldiers rushed forward and grabbed his arms, lifting him to his feet and holding him there with a strength Billy couldn't hope to match without any Ranger powers.
Trini was fighting back. It wasn’t going well: she was getting pummeled by four different Cogs at once. He tried to get loose and help her before overcoming the temporary insanity that he could get free of Cogs without the Power. “Trini, stop!” he called out, but she didn’t seem to hear. She had no idea how different Cogs were from Putties...
Rocky stopped talking with his new ally, Prince Gasket, to watch Trini's beating. He stared for nearly a minute before finally saying, “Don't kill her.”
Gasket stared at the “rogue Ranger.” “Why not?” he demanded.
Rocky hurled a fireball at one of the Cogs pummeling Trini. It collapsed, an irreparable montage of half melted metal and newly exposed wiring instantaneously corroded a bright green. The rest of the Cogs instantly stopped beating the green Ninjetti, and all but the one holding her backed away from the captive. Billy’s insides knotted horribly when he saw her: Trini was limp in the Cog’s arms, and he could see bruises, cuts, probable broken bones. He hoped fervently that she was only unconscious.
“I don't want her dead yet. We have better plans for them. *Remember*?” Rocky said. Gasket, a true rogue prince and proud of it, wasn't normally one to follow orders of any kind. Knowing this, Rocky set a brilliant green fire blazing neatly two inches above his hand. It was so large and hot that, even though anti burn wards he’d cast on his new body were in full effect, the searing heat was almost painful. He automatically channeled the growing pain to his captive spirit, rejoicing at even the slightest whimper from the headstrong spirit.
Gasket was cowed. He was every bit as metal as the Cog Rocky had obliterated. Gasket never was an idiot. He realized that in this “partnership” Rocky was not going to serve him — it would be the other way around. Gasket cleared his throat and gave a uniquely meek, “Yes.”
Rocky nodded briefly. “Good.” Then, to “Gasket's” Cogs, he said, “Take them inside. Seal the entrances, then tend to his wounds. Enter or exit using teleportation only.”
“What about her?” the Cog holding Trini asked in its mechanical monotone.
“Do I look like I care?” Rocky snapped. “Just as long as they die in the end it doesn't matter to me what happens to them. This long-winded plan is Gasket's, not mine.” The Cogs started to take the two captives toward the entrance to a nearby cave, but Gasket spoke up.
“Wait.” The Cogs stopped, albeit with an uncertain glance or two in Rocky's direction to make sure stopping was okay. They’d understood the change in power almost as quickly as Gasket had.
Gasket walked up to Billy and looked him over slowly. At frustrating length, he spoke. “Now I know you Ranger types don't like doing these things the easy way, but hear me out. I'm offering you a simple deal. When you give in and join me — and believe me, you will — I will release Trini. The problem for you is that her injuries are already severe. If you wait too long to take me up on my offer, she might be beyond repair by the time she is returned to your friends. If you surrender now ”
“Never,” Billy growled. “I will never fight for you!”
“You know, Tommy said those exact words to me just before I activated the Brain Drain. But I never gave him a choice. You must decide what you value more: your freedom or her life. Get them out of here,” Gasket ordered.
Gasket, like most sentient machines, had a difficult time reading an organic being's facial expressions since he had none of his own to go by. He could see quite clearly, however, that Billy would not give a simple “no.”
*****
“The Sound of Music,” Tanya said.
“South Pacific,” Rita proposed.
“The King and I,” Kim said.
“Cinderella,” Kat said, making a silly flourish with one hand.
“Once Upon a Mattress!” Kim cried, getting sillier.
“Into the Woods!” Tanya laughed.
“West Side Story!” Rita countered.
“Shush!” Kat and Tanya said in unison, hearing the fourth from top step creak. The girls held their breaths as footfalls stopped in front of Kat's bedroom door.
“Kat, Tanya, could you tell your friends to keep it down a bit?” Mrs. Hillard asked politely.
“Yes, Mother,” the two chorused. They heard a soft chuckle and a moment later the staircase step creaked again as Mrs. Hillard went back downstairs.
“West Side Story?” Kat queried, feeling like she should know that title. She felt just a touch out of place as the only ballerina in a room full of singers and theater buffs.
Rita and Ish traded mischievous looks. Rita's Spanish accent deepened beautifully to give Kat an answer.
“I like to be in America / Okay by me in America / Everything free in America...”
“...For a small fee in America,” Ish completed. The two girls giggled a little.
“Ah,” Kat said, remembering.
Kim looked across at the silent one. After months of practice, Kim could tell from Moira's minute facial clues when something was bothering her. “Is something wrong, Moira?”
“Hmm?” Moira said, snapping out of her own little world. “Oh. No. It's nothing important.”
“If you believed that, you would have stopped one word sooner. What is it?” Rita asked.
Subconsciously, Moira drew herself up a bit from her slightly slumped position against Kat's bedroom wall before starting another song from West Side Story.
“Tonight, Tonight, it all began Tonight. I saw you and the world went away. Tonight, Tonight, there's only you Tonight, what you are, what you do, what... you...” Moira's singing voice was extraordinary – hypnotic, skillful, passionate. However, it started giving out by “do” and completely deserted her before she could finish the line. She took a deep breath and forced the bubbling emotions back down where no one would see. “Will and I... our school... the Academy put on a performance of West Side Story in my freshman year,” she explained.
“Oh, Moira,” Rita said with deep compassion, “do not tell me that you and Will were Maria and Tony?”
A flash of a smile darted across Moira's face. “No, our school wasn't quite so color blind as a black Tony and a Scottish Maria. But we did sing that song together anyway. It sort of described us.” A remarkably convincing fake laugh rang out. “Silly, isn't it? To hang on to something like that for so long.”
“No, no it's not,” Tanya said softly. Moira looked at the Yellow ZEO Ranger, and something significant seemed to pass between them. Their teammates were suddenly reminded that Tanya had experienced loss very much like Moira’s, at a far younger age. Though it turned out that Tanya’s parents hadn’t died as everyone had believed, that had not made the intervening years any easier for the Yellow Ranger. Moira’s mouth formed a more honest expression almost like a smile, which Tanya returned.
“So, what other plays could we do? We have to pick one if we're ever going to convince AGH to put on a summer show,” Tanya said, shaking herself.
To everyone's surprise, Moira spoke again. “No, wait. I think West Side Story might be good. The gang relations will be new to Angel Grove, but that might be all the better. If we go through with this, the play we put on has got to be more than eye candy.” The same inner light that had entered her eyes during the song returned. She sat straight and tall, red curls spilling over her shoulders. “Tommy could be Riff, and Billy would be Ice, and Rita's Anita, and Kim's Gratziella...”
“I resemble that remark,” Kim interjected.
“...oh, and I met the perfect Bernardo the other day at the Youth Center, if only he sings...”
“You really do love the theater, don't you?” Rita asked, in awe of Moira's new attitude.
Moira smiled bashfully and nodded.
A wide smile graced Kim's lips, drawn by her friend's nearly unguarded joy. “Why don't we go for it? It will take a lot of work even if AGH approves, but it's not like we’ll be in battle 24 7 for all of our vacation, right?”
“Beep beep beep beep beep beep!” Kat and Kim's communicators chirped.
“Right on cue,” Kat sighed lightly.
“This is Kim, go ahead,” Kim said into hers.
[ZEO AND VENUSIAN RANGERS, PLEASE COME TO THE POWER CHAMBER IMMEDIATELY,] Zordon's voice ordered.
“Nightmares?” Tanya asked.
[PERHAPS. COME AT ONCE.]
“Sure, Zordon,” Kim said, baffled. It had to be something bigger than the standard Angel Grove monster attack or else Zordon wouldn't have bothered to summon both teams. She released the transmit button and said, “Come on, gals. Duty calls.”
*****
Aisha slowed up to come even with Adam, who was lagging behind the group. They, Tommy, and Jason were out rollerblading.
“How's the weather back here?” she joked.
“Eh, could be hotter,” Adam replied. The average early-summer day was already topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and it hadn't even quite hit the hottest part of the afternoon yet. Ish laughed. He looked up from the smoking pavement to see her bright, excited smile. How had he never noticed how much he missed it until she came back?
“You sure there's nothing else?” Ish asked. She swerved around a tree in a concrete planter and sped up to catch back up with Adam. He wasn't going to lose her that easily!
“Deja vu,” Adam admitted at length. “I can't help it. It just feels so much like the day when Ooze attacked.”
“Because rollerblading causes bad guys?” Ish asked skeptically.
“No,” he answered. “I just have a bad feeling.”
Ish pretended to swat at him. “Nothing's gonna happen. Now wouldja quit being all murky back here?”
“I wasn't ”
“Race you back to Jase and Tommy!” Ish announced and sped off. Adam found himself giving chase. By the time he caught up to her, Jason, and Tommy, his sullen mood had faded. He was about to tell her how glad he was that she was back when:
“Hey, anyone hungry?” Tommy asked when he saw the group was back together.
Adam blinked as deja vu hit him again.
“Sure, Rocky,” Ish teased her former leader, rollerblading circles around him.
“Hey!” Tommy pouted. He “gave chase” by turning himself around in little circles. “Get back here, you little you-know-what-you-are!”
“Beep beep bweep beep beep beep!” Tommy's communicator chimed. Ish heard it, so Tommy just had to motion to Jason and Adam to follow them to a more secluded spot.
“Zordon, this is Tommy, go ahead,” Tommy said quietly into his communicator.
[RANGERS, PLEASE REPORT TO THE POWER CHAMBER IMMEDIATELY,] Zordon said.
“On our way,” Tommy sighed. The group looked both ways before teleporting to the Power Chamber in streaks of Red, black, orange, and Green.
*****
“Ay yi yi yi yi!”
“Tommy, finally,” Kim said upon their arrival. She gravitated toward the new arrivals. “Trini and Billy have been kidnapped.”
“But I thought they were doing stuff here?” Adam protested.
“Yeah, they were. Someone took them right out of the Power Chamber!”
“But who could have that kind of power?” Rita repeated her question of moments earlier.
“Gasket,” Moira answered. Nine people turned to her in surprise. “He's the only one of your enemies who's ever just pointed a finger to kidnap one of you. He could have the power to do this.”
“Okay, who gave her access to the main computer?” Rocky asked lightly.
“Moira's right; this does seem like something he'd try,” Jason said. Moira silently thanked her lucky stars that she didn't blush easily.
“What's he doing, trying to earn frequent schemer miles?” Adam asked.
“So, how do we rescue them?” Tommy asked tightly.
There was a moment’s pause. They looked at one another for the three seconds it took to realize that both Zeos and Venusians were waiting for Billy or Trini, respectively, to answer. Kim pulled her arms in close around herself, but her expression was determined.
Adam had an answer instead. “Well… um, their homing beacons and Power Signature are both going to be blocked if Gasket is hiding them, and searching for their bio rhythms could take awhile.”
“Especially since Gasket controls some pocket dimensions,” Moira added.
“What about Trini's necklace?” Rita suggested.
“Necklace?” Tanya inquired.
“Solid sterling silver rose on a solid sterling silver chain. She never goes anywhere without it,” Kim explained quickly. “We might be able to pick up a small amount of fine silver in an unusual location and use that to pinpoint them.”
“But what if Trini lost her necklace? Or if she and Billy were separated?” Rocky asked. He made a mental note to find Trini's precious necklace and destroy it as soon as he could get away.
Kim shrugged. “It may not work this time, but it's something to try while the computer scans for their bio rhythms.”
The others agreed, and several started off to find Billy's independent backup scanners.
*Ready for some more fun?* the demon spirit asked Rocky. He chuckled silently at Rocky's vicious protests. “Moira, could I talk to you?” he asked the eagle Ninjetti quietly.
Moira looked at him, puzzled. “Sure,” she said. She looked at him expectantly.
“No, not here.” Rocky pointed out one of the side doors. “It's kind of private.”
A wary look fixed on to Moira's face. She didn't think Rocky was the secretive — or overly tactful — type. She told herself she was just being silly and released the breath she'd been holding. She walked out of the Power Chamber after Rocky.
Rita watched their exit, wondering. Either her brother had really changed that much in the past seven years... or something much stranger was going on.
*****
The door whooshed closed. Rocky whirled around angrily. Moira barely had time to blink before he put a hand on each of her shoulders and shoved her against the wall.
“Rocky, what are you doing!?” Moira cried. She tried to pry herself loose before foul memories began to surface. Rocky responded by pushing her into the wall so hard her shoulders began to hurt.
“Uncaring whore!” Rocky yelled. Moira paused struggling, feeling the impact of that name like a knife in her side. “This is all your fault!”
“What on Terra are you ”
“You came here to Angel Grove practically just to make friends with us, and now look what's happening! Trini and Billy could be dead by now, all because you ignored your curse and got close to us! Didn't you ever think that Kim and the others would have to pay the price for getting close to you?!”
“Yes,” Moira said when at last she could get a word in. She had stupidly tried not to think about her curse lately with Jason and the other Zeos... but she had wondered many times in the past why the other Venusians hadn't been taken away. She clung to them so much harder than was safe for them.
“And now all of us are going to die because you wanted a bloody vacation!”
“Stop it,” Moira said too quietly for Rocky to pay heed. “STOP IT!!” she screeched. “I did *not* want a bloody vacation, I just wanted to see Angel Grove! And I know already that I shouldn't pursue my desires; you of all creatures don't need to remind me. Now get out of Rocky!”
Rocky blinked.
“You took 'bloody’ as a swear word from my brother. Nobody uses it in the States. And only the demon spirit and Isabella accept my curse, besides me. You’re really, really not her. I'm not an idiot, Rocky or whatever your true name is.”
Composing himself, Rocky said, “Very well, I'll grant you that. You're not an idiot. It must be that you don't care that you're murdering all these people through your curse. You'd better hope that your new friends die quickly like your mother, Becky, and Meagan; because if something else doesn't kill them, I will.”
Moira was breathing heavily now, trying to will away the building pressure behind her eyes. She would *not* let the demon know that he'd affected her. She closed her eyes against him briefly, and when she opened them, she had on an expression almost calm and determined enough to scare her old enemy.
“Maybe I have sentenced them to die by my actions, but you won’t be their executioner. Sorry, Rocky,” Moira said, and slammed her knee into his groin. Rocky's eyes went wide and he released his grip on her shoulders. Before the demon could channel the pain into its captive spirit and recover, Moira followed it up with a blow to the back of his neck that sent him to the ground. She ran back into the main room of the Power Chamber.
*****
“Kimberly,” Moira said from the doorway in the calm, soft voice that meant she was on the verge of losing control. Kim, Rita, and Ish all responded immediately.
“What's wrong?” Kim asked, starting toward the youngest Ranger. Moira blinked several times in a row, and all three knew that if Moira let her emotions show, she would be sobbing by now. Rita and Ish stepped closer and were just barely hurt when Moira backed away from them. Kim caught Jason's eye and silently asked him to stay where he was. He couldn't help now.
“It's Rocky,” Moira said quietly, casting guarded looks toward the Zeos. It was probably too late for them, but in case she could still stop her curse from acting on them, she would now keep them all at arms’ length.
“What about Rocky?” Rita asked, equally quiet.
“He...” *...just reminded me that I'm murdering you all.* “...was possessed by the demon spirit the same night it left me,” she said instead.
Kim's expression darkened. *What did he say to her?* she thought suspiciously. “Alpha, Zordon?”
“Shields are going up. Beginning internal scans now,” Alpha said. “If Rocky is still in the Power Chamber, we’ll find him.”
“You're sure about this?” Ish asked Moira in disbelief. To think that Rocky had been possessed for five days and they hadn't even noticed...
Moira nodded. “He as good as told me so himself.” She hesitated, then for a moment conceded to her teammates’ viewpoint: that individual evil parties were responsible for the deaths of her loved ones, not herself. “He might have caused the kidnappings. He almost certainly knows where Trini and Billy are. If we could free Rocky, he could tell us, too.”
“I knew something was wrong with Rocky! If I ever get my hands on that spirit I'm going to...”
“Cool it, Rita. He'll be okay now. We know what's up, thanks to Moira.” Moira didn't even react to Ish's compliment. Ish frowned, also wondering what the demon had said to kill Moira's almost happy mood. Moira had finally started to open up, and now...
“Excuse me,” Moira said softly, pulling her teammates back to reality with her gently offended tone. Feeling that no one wanted to help her and hoping that was true, she left the Power Chamber again, heading outside.
“Now you can go to her,” Kim half ordered Jason once the door was closed. Jason barely took time to acknowledge before he was out the door after Moira.
“Okay, what just happened?” Tommy asked, bewildered. The three remaining Venusians sighed in silent unison and began to quickly explain to Tommy, Adam, Alpha, and Zordon what Moira had said was happening to Rocky.
*****
Moira turned her head just enough to see tiny pebbles slide past her and off the edge of the sheer cliff, then continued staring across the open sky at nothing. A moment later, the cause of the tiny rockslide was sitting beside her. He said nothing at first, only looked at her, doubtless trying to decide if she was truly okay or upset and just not showing it at all.
“Are you okay?” Jason asked.
“You actually have to ask? What was all that last week about feeling like you've known me forever?” Moira snapped.
“Mom always said that if I can ask the question, I deserve to know the answer.”
Moira scooted away a foot in lieu of a clever response.
“You don't understand,” she said quietly.
“I'm trying!”
Moira looked at him with a half-crazed smile on her face. “No, no, that's a good thing! If you can't understand then maybe you won't die!”
Jason just stared at her for a second or two. “Being close to you isn’t going to kill me,” he said carefully.
Moira looked wounded. “But that's my curse,” she explained obviously. “Anyone who can help me dies.”
She must have been letting her guard down, Jason mused, because suddenly he could see panic and anguish rise to her face as she realized how much she'd said.
“No!” she cried, burying her face in her hands. “I can't... Why does it have to be so difficult with you! I can hide from everyone else, but you...”
Jason slowly, silently scooted closer to the distraught girl. “Moira, please, will you just listen to ”
“NO!” Moira scrambled to her feet in a burst of fear and anger. “Stop trying to help me! I don't want to make you die!”
Her voice rang in the silence of the mountaintop. In that moment, Jason realized something rather unexpected about himself: if he ever got his hands on whatever had done this to Moira, monster or not, he would kill it. “Why?” he asked her.
“B because I car... because you're a... because I don't want to kill anyone else!” Moira fumbled. She was shivering, not from cold.
“No, of course not. Why does getting close to people make them die?”
“Because... I don't know because,” Moira admitted. “It just does.”
“How do you know that it does?”
“Everyone I've let get close to me has died.”
“And you killed them?”
“Yes... no... yes!”
“Says who?”
“What?”
“Who told you so?” Jason repeated.
Moira had to think about that one. Who had first made her face the truth about her curse? *Why should you tell him? It'll only let him further into your soul, closer to his death,* one part of her mind argued. *Shut up,* she told it, *He's asking something you don't know.*
“Moira?” Jason asked, concerned she wasn't going to answer.
“I'm thinking,” she said.
*It was after Sean... wasn't it? No, it was during...* “The Demnen,” she said at last.
“The one that’s in Rocky now?”
Moira thought a bit more to make sure. “Yes, he confirmed what I'd already begun to figure out.”
“And this thing never lies, never plays tricks to get what it wants?” Jason asked slowly.
That did it. Moira stared at him in open shock and confusion. *Does that make sense?* she asked herself fervently. She opened her mouth once or twice to say yes or no or just something that would make her look like less of a dork to Jason, but no sound left her quivering lips.
Jason stood. “Good. Don't answer. Just think about it. What if that demon was lying to you? What if it never believed that you caused their deaths in any way? Would you put that past it? After all, it almost got you to kill yourself by making you think that you were killing everyone around you. I'd say that's a pretty good strategy.”
“But... but I ”
“Just think about it. I'm going to go inside now. You can stay out here as long as you need to, then if you want you can come inside and help us find Trini and Billy. I think we’ll find them *before* they're hurt.”
Slowly, he passed Moira, stopping for a moment just downwind of her to wonder how she smelled like strawberries. Then he continued up the path to the Power Chamber’s hidden entrance, leaving Moira alone with her thoughts.
*****
The second he was able, Billy pushed away from the Cogs and went to Trini's side. They had given him some kind of shot entirely against his will, but afterward they didn’t seem so dedicated to holding him down. He looked over her damaged body and felt his hopes sink. For once, it seemed, Gasket really was telling the truth. As far as he could tell, Trini would die long before Billy could expect a rescue.
He didn't have a choice, then. Not really. Loyalty between Rangers alone would not let him sit by as Trini died, and she had been one of his best friends for years to boot. But also... it was Trini. He couldn’t lose her. He was about to call the Cogs over to tell them he'd do whatever Gasket wanted when he noticed something missing from Trini's almost motionless chest.
The rose necklace, his gift to her in lieu of a confession the day she left Angel Grove behind, was gone. His brow furrowed. Either Trini had lied to him in their first talk almost a week ago when she said that she never went anywhere without her necklace, or...
Billy lifted her head just enough to slide his hand under, palm up. Recalling the common design of the Machine Empire's high class humanoid machinery, he felt around the nape of Trini's neck. A mischievous smile lifted the corners of his mouth as he found the emergency “off switch” and pressed it.
A violent shudder went through the body and then it lay perfectly still, no longer keeping up the illusion of a shallow breath.
*Almost got me that time, Gasket,* Billy smiled to himself.
The Cogs apparently had some way of knowing if the Triniesque machine was de activated, for a half dozen of his guards were at his side in less than five seconds.
“I don't suppose you're programmed to tell me where the *real* Trini is?” Billy said.
They weren't. However, they were programmed to go tell Gasket if Billy uncovered their deception and programmed to not be overwhelming in the intelligence department. It should have taken only one Cog to alert Gasket, but every single Cog in the large cavelike room left, leaving Billy with one inactive machine as his only guard.
Billy leaned forward to make sure one or two weren't hiding in a passageway, then snorted. “Could they be any dumber?” he asked aloud. “Nah,” he answered himself, laughing a little. He got to his feet and left the room with the intention of exploring around and seeing if Trini was in the pocket dimension at all. If she wasn't, then Billy was out of here. Somehow.
*****
Darkness still filled Trini's eyes after she opened them. Trini fought down the spark of panic that hit every time she was greeted with that pure blackness. Her logical mind stepped in to argue that she really shouldn't be seeing darkness unless she'd been asleep a lot longer than she supposed. Or... unless the room *itself* was dark!
Trini tried to focus her eyes to see if there actually was something in the darkness that she could see. After what seemed to be a long time passed and still she couldn't quite pick out shapes around her, she started to feel panicky again. She sank into her memory instead. What had happened? She remembered discovering that Rocky's body had been taken over by the demon spirit that had before plagued Moira, remembered Rocky destroying their only evidence against him and attacking them, and then the mind scan that had weakened her so much that she couldn't get away. Billy had come back from wherever he'd gone and tried to get her to leave while he drew Rocky's attention, and then... then she'd woken up here. And wherever “here” was, she was fairly certain that it didn't have a certain healer whose aid her eyes would need very soon if they didn’t already. She was starting to wonder if there were *any* other people here at all.
To her great surprise, suddenly she saw a lighter greyish shape above her. She sat up in response and it moved back, but didn't leave. It spoke to her.
“Trini? Is that you?”
“Oh thank goodness,” Trini sighed. Billy.
“Are you okay?” Billy asked.
Trini tried again to focus her eyes and did a bit better this time. Blond hair, light skin, medium value clothes. That was Billy, probably. “I'm not sure. I think so.”
“Were you injured?” Billy asked.
“Not as far as I know,” Trini answered.
Billy nodded once, though he doubted in this half-hidden alcove that Trini would see it. “Great. Let’s go.”
Trini didn't like the antsy feeling starting up in her stomach. One of the reasons she had loved Billy so long was the way he never made her feel uncomfortable. “Yeah. Billy, what I said back there...”
“What was that?” Billy asked, for a moment distracted. He turned back to her. Still deeply concerned about her, he slipped his good hand into one of hers, meaning to check her pulse. He didn't expect the little spark that passed between them and made his heart leap.
Touching him steadied her. “In the Power Chamber, when I said that I love you, I meant it. I've wanted to tell you for the longest time. I just... I was hoping that you wouldn't...”
“What?” Billy prodded softly.
“Look at me like I'd just sung the National Anthem in Edenite and then run off,” Trini said, abandoning the idea of coming up with something less harsh.
Billy stayed silent for a long moment. Then, “Trini, I can't say how sorry I am. I made you feel like you'd waited that many years to tell me how you feel for nothing. You deserve far better treatment than that. At least you had the guts to say it. I stopped even trying after...” Billy swallowed and stopped.
“What?” Trini whispered, stunned that Billy might actually be saying what she thought he was saying.
“Who,” Billy shook his head. “I stopped trying to tell you after Richie.”
“Richie? Oh gosh, Billy! Richie was just a crush, like Marge.” Nope, she still couldn't say the name of Billy's one time girlfriend without flinching. “This is...” Trini looked up and could just see his grey blue eyes in the dim light. The middle word was implied when their eyes met. “...isn't it?”
“If it's not, then I don't know what love feels like,” Billy replied softly.
A pleasant silence stretched over the two Ninjetti. Trini breathed a silent sigh of relief that the normal feelings of comfort and safety had returned, bringing along their friends joy and excitement. A laugh came out of her throat almost before she realized it.
“Oh wow,” she laughed.
“What?” Billy asked, smiling.
“Kim used to say she'd have to lock us in a room together to get us to admit our feelings. She got it pretty close, don't you think?”
Billy laughed too. “I love you, Trini Kwan,” he said.
Trini's heart skipped beats like they were Olympic hurdles. “You don't know how long I've waited to hear you say that,” she breathed.
“Yes, I do,” Billy answered, equally soft.
Trini wiped a happy tear out of her eye, then started shifting to her feet. “Okay, let’s-“
Billy heard the footsteps come closer again, though this time they seemed much closer than the last. “Shush!” he whispered. He slid down to the floor next to Trini in case his returning guards had lights with them. They did, and the soft glow passed just above them, catching both their breaths in their throats. The Cogs didn't seem to see them, and moved on after a moment, taking their lights with them.
They released their breaths. “Are they looking for you or me?” Trini said in a whisper in case the Cogs were still within hearing range.
“Me, probably. Gasket's trying to do something to me. He tried to get me to surrender to him by using a metal facsimile of you to pretend that you were hurt on the way here and if I didn't let him do whatever he wants to me, you'd die,” Billy whispered.
“I don't like Gasket,” Trini whispered fiercely.
“No arguments here. Come on, let’s get out of here.”
Hand in hand, Trini and Billy ran.