Authors Note: You'd better read "An Old Flame's Power" and "Sweet Revenge," because if you haven't, you'll have no idea where this story is coming from. By now the saga has taken it's turn and it will take an even sharper one, starting from this story and on. If you don't believe in true love and sacrifices, turn back now. Also Rocky does get out of his trance, three hours later in the Youth Center.

The Guardian Saga
An Old Friend in Need
Chapter Seven: "Another Ranger of Pink"
by: WhiteZeo

Tanya Sloan was sitting down at the gang's regular booth, at the Juice bar, sipping a Lemon Smoothe and waiting for her friends: Katherine Hillard {Kat}, Rocky De Santos, and Adam Park to arrive. Out in the gym, on the mats, her other two friends, Tommy Oliver and Shannon Kassandra Kaze were sparing, a regular pastime for the two lovebirds.

* * * * *

A girl walked into the Juice Bar. She was wearing a royal purple midriff with a black denim vest, unbuttoned, and a pair of black daisy duke jeans. She had brown eyes and straight, brunette hair that hung over her shoulder blades. She looked about 5'7" and was Caucasian.

She walked over to Tanya and spoke up, in a light valley girl accent, "Excuse me?"

Tanya looked up from her smoothe and sparing that was going on, "Yes?"

"I'm looking for Tommy Oliver, have you seen him around?"

Tanya looked her up and down quick, so the girl wouldn't notice. *She sorta reminds me of Shannon.* Tanya thought to herself. "Yeah, I'm his friend. He's on the sparing mats," Tanya informed, going back to sipping her smoothe.

*Duh! He's always on the sparing mats! Wait, if she's Tommy's friend, then she must be the new Yellow Ranger Jason told me about!* the girl thought to herself.

"Thanks," the girl acknowledged.

As the girl walked off towards Tommy and Shannon, Tanya stopped sipping her Lemon Smoothe and almost vomited. *Ohmigosh! I just sent her to Tommy, when...........Great Tanya! Just great!*

* * * * *

Tommy threw a single punch at Shannon. "DUCK...." she began, as she ducked down below the punch.

Then he executed a jump spinning heel kick Shannon's way. "AND COVER!" Shannon finished, covering her head as the kick went over her and she tripped Tommy with a sweep kick.

"Hey! I guess that works for more than earthquakes!" Shannon giggled.

Tommy, who was up on his feet now, pulled Shannon into a lover's embrace. "Well, Shannon....You'd better hang on, cause I'm gonna rock your world!"

He brought his lips to hers and they locked lips. Shannon's hands started running through Tommy's smooth, long hair and Tommy's naughty hands went to Shannon's butt.

Shannon, who was facing the Juice Bar, saw Tanya almost vomit and smiled to herself. Then she saw a girl approaching them. *She reminds me of myself when I was fifteen.* she thought, then realized that they were in a bad position for anyone to be coming towards them.

She mangled her lips away from Tommy's and whispered in Tommy's ear, "Someone's coming towards us."

"Who the hell cares, I'm busy. They'll have to take a number," Tommy whispered back as he nibbled Shannon's ear and necked her.

A chill went up her spine when Tommy nibbled her ear, but she didn't hold back on him, "If you insist...."

"Ohhhh....I do."

"Okay, then I have no choice," Shannon brought her right knee up, and lightly kneed Tommy's little friend,' enough to get his attention.

Instantly, it worked like anti-hormones. Tommy's hands peeled away from Shannon's butt and he dropped to his knees, turning around. As he did, he saw two familiar legs of a girl. Tommy looked up and was stunned. He knew that girl. More precisely, she was his ex-girlfriend. "Kimberly?"

"Hello, To..Tom..Tommy," Kimberly stuttered to get his name out.

As Tommy stood up from his spot on the mat, Shannon noticed a slightly pained face on Kimberly, a slightly pale face on her boyfriend, and felt a slightly betrayed face on herself. Shannon, mentally, slapped herself. *Stop it, Shannon! Remember he told you he wasn't exactly true to you by staying girl-free, but he told you he had two girlfriends: Kimberly Anne Hart and Kat. Tommy told you both relationships didn't work out. Remember that he was honest and didn't lie to you. Stay true to your heart and understand the reunited pain between Kimberly and Tommy.* Shannon advised herself, then took it into perspective, *What the hell did I just think! Damn! I just sounded like a shrink! Eerie.....*

"So, you must be Kimberly Anne Hart. I'm Shannon Kassandra Kaze," Shannon introduced herself, breaking the ice on the awkward moment, "I've heard a lot about you."

"That's me! But please call me Kim," Kimberly gleefully, pushed herself.

"Well, I'm gonna get some water bottles so why don't you to reminisce or something." Shannon urged as she kissed Tommy and whispered to him, "I'm sorry about your little friend', but between him and your hormones, they were getting to best of you."

"We'll continue, later," Tommy whispered back, understanding what she meant.

She walked away, letting out a little giggle, leaving Tommy and Kimberly to themselves on the mat. "So how's Florida?" Tommy broke the ice.

"It's okay. The weather's great out there and the trainers and other gymnasts are really nice," Kimberly replied, with shyness.

"How about we go sit on the bleachers and talk some more?" Tommy suggested, feeling a little awkward.

Kimberly nodded and they both walked over to the bleachers, in silence.

The two sat down and Kimberly asked, "What's Shannon to you?"

"Well....," Tommy hesitated for a moment, "Shannon's my girlfriend. We met each other at a Martial Arts demonstration and later we found out she was the White Zeo Guardian Ranger of the Zeo Crystals." Tommy explained briefly, only telling half of the truth.

"Oh, wow......." Kimberly breathed.

Tommy asked, "So how's your boyfriend?"

Kimberly looked at him, sympathetic eyes, "Well, I was hoping you'd bring that up because...."

Kimberly was cut off by Shannon's shrilling yell, "ROCKKKYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

The two snapped their heads around and saw Rocky, sheepishly holding a bucket that used to be filled with water. About a foot in front of him, Shannon stood, now soaked, head to toe, in her white bodysuit, by the water that was in Rocky's bucket. Adam and Kat were behind Rocky staring at Shannon, laughing. Tanya was standing in front of Shannon with the giggles.

Shannon spun around to look at Rocky, whipping him in the process with her hair. "Owww......"

"That's a small sample of what you're gonna get for the little' water joke," Shannon snapped at Rocky, making sure he heard every word.

Before Rocky ran out of the Juice bar, he whipped out his camera and took a picture of Shannon. Shannon's jaw dropped open as Rocky sped straight out of there, Tanya, Adam and Kat chasing after him. "I WANT THAT PICTURE OR ELSE!!!!!" she shouted out the door, as the four ran down the hallway of the Youth Center.

Shannon walked over to Tommy and Kimberly, a smirk on her face. Tommy held out her towel; white with red racing stripes going down it. She took it graciously and sat down next to Kimberly drying off her hair. "How about that water, Shannon?" Tommy jested.

Shannon stretched over Kimberly and Kimberly and Shannon slapped Tommy in the arm. Tommy gripped the spot and cried, "OWWWW!"

"Kim, I have a feeling that me and you are going to be the best of friends," Shannon told Kimberly.

"The feeling's mutual." Kimberly agreed.

"So what brings you to Angel Grove, Kim?" Tommy inquired, after the redness went away from his arm.

"Well, I'm not here on pleasure," Kimberly paused, then whispered, "I need to talk to the Power Rangers."

"We don't really know the Power Rangers......" Shannon began to lie.

"You can cut the lyin' crap, Sweetcheeks. She knows," Tommy ordered his girlfriend.

"How, Olive Oil?" Shannon asked.

"I'll explain later. Let's go somewhere more private," Tommy recommended.

They all walked towards the hallway. *Sweetcheeks? Olive Oil? They really must be serious. Maybe she's the secret Jason and Tommy used to keep from the rest of us.*

They walked out of the gym and Tommy activated his communicator. "Zordon? Alpha?"

"Yes, Tommy. What is the matter?" Zordon of Eltar's voice rang out of the small communicator.

"Shannon and I will be teleporting to the Power Chamber." Tommy lied, keeping Kimberly's arrival a secret.

"That will be fine," Zordon gave him permission.

"Alright, Tommy out."

Shannon, who was still a little wet with her towel tied around her, gave her communicator to Kimberly and Tommy grabbed Shannon by the waist. They teleported out into flashes of black and a mixed red and white.

* * * * *

"Iyaiyaiyai! Kimberly?" Alpha Five cried as the ex-Pink Ranger materialized.

"Yeah. Hello, Alpha....Zordon." Kimberly greeted.

"Welcome back, Kimberly," Zordon welcomed.

"Zordon, Kimberly came to us telling us she needs our help. She knows we're the Power Rangers, how is that possible?" Shannon asked the great mentor.

"Artemis, Kimberly is the first Pink Ranger of the Morphing Grid," Zordon, straight out, told.

"Never been called that before," Kimberly admitted.

As Shannon and Zordon talked amongst themselves some more, Kimberly whispered to Tommy, "I thought her name was Shannon?"

"It's a long story, but made short, she's a descendant of one of the Morphing Masters, Artemis." Tommy explained

Shannon turned to Kimberly, finishing her talk with Zordon and began to apologize, "I'm really sorry, Kim....."

"Oh, no! It's okay. I mean, if I was in your spot I'd be wondering how I found out you were Power Rangers." Kimberly stopped her.

"So what'd you need our help for?" Tommy asked Kimberly.

"Well, this woman kidnapped me, Jason, Aisha, Trini, and Zack. She said she was going to make us into her Super Villain team. She put some evil spell on Jason, Trini, and Zack, and was planning on doing me and Aisha next, but somehow I escaped from her underground dungeon......" Kimberly was cut off by Shannon.

"Lemme guess, in the Netherlands? Did this woman' have blonde hair streaked black and wore a golden cat's eye pendant on her chest?" Shannon questioned, already knowing Kimberly would say, yes.

"How did you know?" Kimberly wondered, stunned.

"Zesta! When I get my hands on her....." Tommy trailed off.

"Put the brakes on, Tommy, I'm the one that's going to take Zesta down," Shannon pulled his thoughts back, "Alpha please call the others."

A few minutes later streaks of green, blue, yellow, and pink set down in the Power Chamber.

Adam was the first one to take notice to Kimberly. "Whoa! Talk about a blast from the past! Kimberly?"

"In the flesh," Kimberly replied.

"Oh, Kim! It's so good to see you!" Kat exclaimed, hugging Kimberly in the process.

"Your Kimberly?" Tanya sheepishly squeaked, "I'm Tanya. I've heard so much about you, and yet I couldn't even recognize you."

"That's alright. I've heard a lot about you, too. From Jason." Kimberly shared.

"You and Shannon bare a close resemblance," Adam noticed.

"Yeah. Shannon almost looked exactly like you when she was fifteen......" Tommy bit his lip, realizing what he had just said, but Shannon nor Kimberly realized what Tommy had said.

Rocky just stood there, jaw wide open. "What the hell are you doing here?!?!?!" he asked, hiding behind Kimberly, now, from Shannon's eyes.

"Why, hello to you too, Rocky! Here, Shannon you can have him." Kimberly pushed Rocky her way.

"No thanks, Kim. You can have him for now. He's not ripe enough," Shannon pushed him back towards Kimberly.

"Artemis.....Kimberly....." Zordon scolded.

"Sorry, Zordon." Shannon apologized, "Okay. Tommy and Kim why don't you two fill Adam, Kat, Tanya, and Water Boy, here, in on what's happening while I talk to Alpha for a sec."

"Sure," the two agreed and began to tell them what happened.

Shannon turned to Alpha, and began to privately talk to him.

A few minutes later, Shannon and Alpha came out of there talk and Alpha began to press all sorts of buttons on the main console. "Okay we're all set." Shannon told the six teenagers.

"All set for what?" Kat asked.

"Just watch. Star Staff!" Shannon called on her staff, which appeared in her hand.

The staff began emitting a white light towards the Viewing Globe and Shannon closed her eyes. A few minutes later her blue eyes snapped open and almost in a heartbeat, flashes of silver, purple, and orange descended into the chamber. When they materialized they revealed three people. One all the rangers, except Kimberly, recognized as Selene. The next person was a guy with blond hair decked out in black jeans and a purple shirt. The third one was a guy, too. He had short brunette hair and wore blue jeans and a dark orange shirt.

"Apollo!" Shannon exclaimed, hugging the one in orange.

"Helious!" Shannon shrieked, hugging the one in purple.

"I just love your clothes, Artemis!" Apollo teased as he looked at her in her white bodysuit and towel.

"Ha, ha, so funny I forgot to laugh," Shannon shot back at the sarcastic remark.

"Artemis, would you mind shedding some light on us and your friends here," Helious motioned towards the Zeo Rangers and Kimberly.

"Oh, right," Shannon turned towards them, "This is Selene the Silver Guardian Ranger," she motioned towards Selene, "Helious, the Purple Guardian Ranger," she motioned towards Helious, "And Apollo, the Stupid Guardian Ranger....Oops, I mean the Orange Guardian Ranger."

Tommy, Adam, Tanya, Kimberly, Rocky, and Kat laughed as Apollo glared at Shannon. "What did ya call us for, Artemis?" Apollo asked, totally swerving away from her remark.

"Well, we have more trouble on our hands than we can handle. Ya know how Zesta attacked Selene's sanctuary?" Shannon questioned the guardians and they nodded their heads, "Looks, like she wasn't after the coins so she could free Gerigon, but she was after them to make her own Super Villain team. She already got some of the previous rangers of the Morphing Grid and has cast evil spells over them. Kimberly," she gestured towards the brunette, "was to be one of them, but escaped from the dungeon in time. Oh, by the way, Apollo, Helious, these are the Zeo Rangers: Tommy, Katherine, Tanya, Rocky, and Adam."

"So Zesta is trying her luck with the Great Power, eh?" Selene inquired.

"I guess," Shannon answered her guardian friend.

"But, how is she gonna power the team. She doesn't have the Katherian coins, the Incarsus coins, or the Element Crystals?" Helious wondered.

Just then a image appeared on the Viewing Globe, of Zesta. "Foolish guardians! Oh, Apollo.....I have the Element Crystals. Meet me at Angel Grove Lake in an hour."

She disappeared and Shannon looked at Helious, "You speak, Helious, Zesta does."

"Well, excuse me, Artemis." Helious snapped back.

"Forget it. Okay, Tommy go back to the Youth Center and teach the Shacrom class we have and Apollo, go with him, you have nothing else better to do, right?" Shannon asked.

"Of course not, Miss Priss," Apollo snapped.

"Then see you in an hour, Mister Moron," Shannon retorted, tapping her finger on the console in front of her, figuring out what to do next.

Tommy and Apollo teleported out in red and orange flashes. "Do they always argue like that?" Kat whispered to Selene, who was next to her.

"Yup. You should hear them when we're in our animal forms," Selene whispered back.

"Next," Shannon continued to give out orders, "Kat, Tanya, Adam, and Rocky. Teleport down to the lake and morph. Start evacuating the Beach Club and," Shannon handed a small vile to Tanya, "try to get some lake water in this vile, without being suspicious."

"Gotcha, Shannon," Rocky went as the four teleported out in green, blue, yellow, and pink flashes.

"Now the last order of business," Shannon sighed.

"Is?" Kimberly asked the taller brunette.

"Giving you your ranger powers," Shannon answered, "Selene we need the Purple Kartherian coin and Helious could you get the power charger?"

Helious got the power charger from Alpha as Selene channeled all her energies and brought forth the Purple Kartherian coin. Selene handed the coin to Kimberly, "Kimberly, hold this coin while Helious charges you."

"Sure," Kimberly replied, admiring the carving of an upside down crescent moon on the coin.

Helious came over with the charger and triggered it. It shot out a black beam and once it came in contact with Kimberly it turned into a purple aura around her. Helious kept the charger going for a few minutes, then turned it off. "There, you're all powered up." Helious told.

"Kimberly, try morphing," Zordon said to Kimberly.

"Okay. Kartherian Purple Power!" Kimberly held the coin up to her eye, just like Selene.

She morphed and her suit was just like Selene's, except that the silver parts were purple.

"Wow! This feels great! It's good to be back in action," Kimberly exclaimed, excitedly.

"Now, we wait for the others," Shannon declared.

Chapter Eight: "Capture"

While Kimberly got her powers, Adam, Rocky, Kat, and Tanya evacuated the Beach Club.

They ran behind the Beach Club, where no one could see them and Adam shouted, "It's morphin' time!"

They all flicked their wrists and revealed their zeonizers. "Zeo Ranger I, Pink!" Kat shouted.

"Zeo Ranger II, Yellow!" Tanya shouted.

"Zeo Ranger III, Blue!" Rocky shouted.

"Zeo Ranger VI, Green!" Adam shouted.

They morphed and ran into the Beach club, surprising many of the citizens. Kat and Adam started evacuating, while Tanya went over to get the lake water and Rocky went over to Emily. "Miss, we're gonna need to evacuate your club because Zesta is planning to attack this area." Rocky told Emily.

"Anything you need, Blue Ranger," Emily responded, running out of the club like the other citizens.

The citizens already knew about the new threat, Zesta. News had spread quickly when Kiros and the Death Ranger attacked the Beach Club the first time and not to mention, it was all over the news.

Once all the citizens cleared out the four rangers regrouped and talked freely. "So ya get the lake water, Tanya?" Kat asked the Yellow Ranger.

"Yeah. I wonder why she wants it though?" Tanya wondered as she held up the small vile.

"Well, no time to wonder. Let's just get it back to Shannon. It's almost time for us to meet Zesta'." Adam alerted.

"You got it, Adam," Rocky agreed.

* * * * *

While Kimberly got her powers and Kat, Tanya, Adam, and Rocky evacuated the Beach Club, Tommy and Apollo were at the Youth Center. Tommy was waiting for the rest of the class to arrive as Apollo stood next to him. "So, do you and Shannon fight often?" Tommy started.

"Artemis? Oh, yeah. But it's only fun, she knows it and I know it. It's just that we are like magnets that repel each other. I don't know how we even mange to work together. Sometimes, she scares me by how serious she can be as to me being the most carefree of the four of us. She's your girlfriend, huh?"

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"Selene told me. She maybe mighty fine, but she's got one heck of a mouth."

"She seems so quiet."

"I know. That's another thing that scares me. She can be so quiet yet if you start talking about Artemis, her mouth starts yakking, nonstop."

Tommy laughed. "They're good friends?"

"Yeah, you could say that. Being the only girl guardians have that affect. So you two teach a Shacrom class?"

"Yeah. Three times a week."

Suddenly Tommy noticed that all the kids were there for the class. "Warm-ups!" he told the class and they all started stretching.

As the rest of the class started stretching, a boy came up to Tommy and said, "Tommy , I've been having trouble with the front layout flip."

"Let's see what you've got, Ryan," Tommy encouraged.

Ryan backed up a little. He ran, he punched on the mat, did a front flip in mid air, laid out, and came out of gravity. But he didn't land gracefully into a forward roll like he was supposed to. Instead he hit the ground, feet first, and pushed into to a backward roll. As Apollo watched he realized what was wrong with the front layout flip. "Try keeping your feet up a little longer in the air." He advised to Ryan.

"I'll try," Ryan told.

This time he ran, he punched, he laid out, and came out of gravity with a forward roll. "Thanks!" Ryan thanked and ran off to do the rest of the stretches with the class.

After the class finished stretching, Tommy started working with them on their foot grabs. Then they started working on their double flips with the inverted corkscrew kick. Once class finished Tommy dismissed them and he walked over to Apollo, who was watching on the bleachers. "You teach one heck on a class!" Apollo complimented.

"Thanks, but we'd better get going. We've only got ten minutes left until Zesta's deadline," Tommy urged.

"Right."

The two guys walked out the Youth Center Gym and into the hallway, which was deserted. A colorful rip opened in front of the two and ten cogs came out of it. They immediately grabbed Tommy and Apollo by the arms. "What do you what, tin grins?" Tommy struggled to get free from the robots' grip.

"Must capture, Zesta's orders," one of the cogs said, in a very mechanical voice.

The cogs, Tommy, and Apollo teleported out.

* * * * *

Streaks of blue, green, pink, and yellow set down in the chamber revealing Rocky, Adam, Kat, and Tanya with the vile in her hands.

"Ya got the water, Tanya?" Shannon asked.

"Yup. What are you going to do with it?" Tanya inquired, handing the vile of water to Shannon.

Shannon poured a tiny amount of water onto her hand. The water turned black and then pure white, like milk. It burst into flames. "I knew it!"

"OWW! Doesn't that hurt?" Rocky wondered.

"Knew what?" Adam asked, eyeing the flames that erupted on her hand.

"This water has a high dosage of carnum in it. And when the carnum comes in contact with my skin, it acts like magic sorta." Shannon explained, blowing out the small fire.

"What's carnum?" Kat asked.

"It is a special type of fuel from Eltar," Zordon answered.

"And guess who has it?" Shannon questioned.

"Zesta," the eight teenagers went.

"Where's Tommy and Apollo?" Rocky asked, noticing they hadn't arrived yet.

"They were supposed to be here ten minutes ago." Kimberly answered.

Shannon's face took on a look of concern. "Alpha, contact Tommy's communicator."

The robot went over to the communications console and started paging Tommy on his communicator, but got no response. "Artemis, Tommy isn't responding his communicator." Alpha told the guardian.

"Make visual contact," Shannon ordered, her voice getting shakier and shakier by the minute.

Alpha pressed up a series of buttons and reported, "Making visual contact, now."

On the Viewing Globe appeared Apollo and Tommy, chained up to a pole, straining and struggling. Selene ran up to her, sheet white and frightened, "Artemis that's the.....the......Cat's Eye Chamber."

"I know. And the more they struggle, the more they weaken." Shannon mumbled, keeping her eyes glued to the Viewing Globe.

Suddenly their picture was cut off by Zesta. "You've found my little secret, Artemis. And you of all people know, the more they struggle, the more they weaken. Now come to the lake!"

"Something's wrong with this picture. It's almost like Zesta's trying to persuade us to the lake." Helious pointed out.

"Yeah," Kimberly agreed, then paused, "So we won't be able to find Tommy and Apollo!"

"Exactly!" Helious exclaimed.

Kimberly walked up to Alpha. "You think you can trace the visual contact to it's source."

"Yes, I can," Alpha pushed some buttons on the communications console and told Kimberly, "Tracing signal to Angel Grove Forest."

"Then we should be there!" Tanya hinted.

"Right! It's morphin' time! Zeo Ranger IV, White!" Shannon shouted.

"Kartherian Purple Power!" Kimberly shouted.

"Kartherian Silver Power!" Selene shouted.

"Incarsus, Purple!" Helious shouted.

The four of them morphed and Rocky, Adam, Kat, Tanya, and Kimberly awed over Helious' suit. It was a consistent color of purple and six streaks of black crossed his helmet.

"Let's go, people!" Shannon encouraged the group as they were engulfed by purple, silver, white, green, blue, yellow, and pink flashes of light.

* * * * *

They got to the forest moments later. "So you've found out my plan, have you," Zesta mocked, standing in the middle of a clearing in the lush forest, "But where are the Red and Orange Rangers?"

"You know exactly where they are!" Kat yapped at the blonde.

"Oh yes, I believe I do. The last time I checked on them they were at the line of life and death," Zesta directed her voice at Shannon and to her pleasure, Shannon cringed at the words, "Death Ranger, Element Rangers, ATTACK!"

Flashes of black, yellow, blue, red, and green set down in front of the evil enchantress.

One was the Death Ranger, the others were new. One was each one was wearing a suit of blue, green, yellow, or red with black gloves and boots. The blue one had a wave on her helmet and had a short skirt. The green one had a leaf on his helmet. The yellow one had one huge streak going across her helmet and had a short skirt. Last, but not least, the red one had a flame on his helmet. "Aisha? Zack? Trini? Jason?" Kimberly asked one by one, ranger order.

"Yes. Glad you could join us in the celebration of Zesta's victory....Kim. Too bad you won't be around to see it." Trini mocked as the Yellow Ranger.

Camellia, the Death Ranger, let out a shrilling battle cry, which Trini, Jason, Aisha, and Zack responded to, and attacked. Shannon managed her way out of the fight and confronted Zesta. "Where are Tommy and Apollo?" she snapped at Zesta.

"Enough! How dare you talk to your mother like that!" Zesta growled at Shannon.

"MOTHER?!?!?!" everyone went.

"Yeah, and I hate it when she admits it." Shannon complained.

Catching them offguard, Camellia, Trini, Aisha, Jason, and Zack began to attack Kimberly, Rocky, Tanya, Kat, Adam, Helious, and Selene. Jason, the Flame Ranger, got a hold of Kimberly and started to strangle her. "Jason....please stop," Kimberly pleaded, gasping for air.

"Why should I Kimberly, so you can stop my queen?" Jason dared, in a deeper voice than usual.

"Kia!" Rocky slammed his step kick into Jason's side, making him lose grip on Kimberly, "You okay?" Rocky asked Kimberly in concern, helping her up from the dirt ground.

"Yeah." Kimberly responded.

Kimberly ran over to Shannon, who was battling Zesta with magic attacks. Shannon threw a ball of white energy at Zesta, which knocked her down on her butt. While Zesta was recovering, Kimberly asked Shannon, "Need some help?"

"Any I can get," Shannon answered, "You think you can draw Zesta's attention?"

"Easy as cake," Kimberly remarked and ran up to Zesta, "Hey Zesta!"

She pulled out her crescent laser pistol and shot a purple laser a few inches from enchantress. That instantly brought her attention to Kimberly. "Hello, aren't you the one who escaped me? Yes you are....MY PENDANT!"

While mocking Kimberly, Zesta hadn't seen Shannon creeping up next to her. She ripped the cat's eye pendant off Zesta's chest and threw it to the ground, "Release the intrapped!"

In place of the pendant a black cloud of smoke rose and disappeared, revealing Tommy and Apollo, unconscious. Shannon and Kimberly ran up to the two. "Tommy? Apollo?" Kimberly tried in vain to wake them up.

"Alpha, teleport Tommy and Apollo to the Power Chamber," she turned around and shouted at the rest of the rangers, "Teleport back to the Power Chamber!"

Shannon, Kimberly, Tommy, and Apollo disappeared in flashes of purple, orange, white, and red as the other rangers stopped battling and teleported out. As they did, Jason shouted up towards the sky, "Weaklings!"

Zesta immediately calmed the rangers down with words, "Do not fret, my children. Once the rangers learn the truth, they will coming running towards us."

* * * * *

When the Zeo Rangers, Selene, and Helious arrived in the Power Chamber they found Shannon an Kimberly standing next to Tommy and Apollo, who were sitting on the diagnostic table. "What happened to you two?" Kat asked, worried.

"We got captured by some cogs and thrown into the Cat's Eye Chamber, which draws the energy out of you the more you struggle to get free. We slipped into unconsciousness and then we got here Artemis gave us our energy back with her staff." Apollo explained.

"I have one big question also. How is Zesta your mother Shannon?!?!" Adam exclaimed.

"Well, to make a long story short: I am half human, half Cindarien, and I am adopted," Shannon summarized.

"What's a Cindarien?" Rocky curiously asked.

"Basically an alien to your standards, though we carry your exact looks," Helious explained.

"We have to call the Aquatians and Trey for help to defeat Zesta," Shannon told Zordon, shifting from the subject that she wasn't a full blooded human.

"You are correct Artemis," Zordon agreed, "Alpha, please send messages to the Aquatians and Trey of Triforia."

"Right away Zordon," Alpha replied.

Alpha started pushing out buttons and about two minutes later, a streak of black and gold and five H2O symbols descended into the Power Chamber. "Hello, Rangers of Earth and Guardian Rangers." Delphine greeted the group of teenagers.

"Welcome, Delphine, Aurico, Cestro, Tidues, Corcus and Trey," Shannon returned the greeting warmly, "You know why you are here. We must call upon the Universal power."

Right away, Selene protested, "No! Artemis, the last time we used it we nearly got Apollo and Helious killed."

"That is true, Selene, but isn't that a risk we take everyday?" Shannon questioned her.

"Not YOU nearly killing us, Artemis," Apollo argued, getting in Shannon's face.

"That was an accident and I had to save your butts again by giving something of my own to Zesta....," Shannon mumbled so Apollo could only hear, "My own flesh and blood."

"That is enough out of you two," Trey stopped the two from arguing any farther, "I have to agree with Artemis. The only way to defeat Zesta is with the Universal power."

"I hate to break you guys up, but what's the Universal power?" Tanya asked.

"Yeah, what is the Universal Power?" Adam wondered, agreeing.

"The Universal power is a power of ultimate preparations. Each ranger gives power to one ranger and that ranger uses it to defeat the evil. Artemis was the last holder of the power." Zordon simply explained.

"Oh." Adam and Tanya said at the same time.

"Who's going to hold the power next?" Rocky asked.

"I will," Trey answered.

"Rangers please surround Trey," Zordon instructed.

Shannon was about to step up and transfer the power, when Selene and her collapsed on the Power Chamber floor coughing, wheezing, and gripping their chests. Tommy ran to Shannon and Apollo ran to Selene. "What's happening?" Tommy inquired, freaking out from the site.

"Zesta's attacking from within," Shannon managed to piece together, gasping for air after she did.

"Artemis you must transfer powers before the Earth is doomed," Delphine said in a hurried scare.

Shannon just nodded her head and Tommy helped her up. "From white to gold, I let the power behold you." Shannon collapsed as a white light shot out of her, illuminating the Gold Ranger.

Out of instinct Tommy followed in his girlfriend's lead. "Zeo Ranger V, Red!"

A red light shot out of him, joining the white aura. "Zeo Ranger VI, Green!" Adam shouted.

A green light shot out of him, joining the white and red auras. "Zeo Ranger III, Blue!" Rocky shouted.

A blue light shot out of him, joining the white, red, and green auras. "Zeo Ranger II, Yellow!" Tanya shouted.

A yellow light shot out of her, joining the white, red, green, and blue auras. "Zeo Ranger I, Pink!" Kat shouted.

A pink light shot out of her, joining the white, red, green, blue, and yellow auras. The Aquatians, Helious, Selene, Apollo, and Kimberly followed. After Trey illuminated all the colors of the rainbow, the auras magically disappeared. "Now what Artemis?" Selene asked, thinking now that she was feeling better that Shannon was fine as well.

When Selene got no answer Tommy turned around to see his girlfriend sprawled out, unconscious, under the Viewing Globe. "SHANNON!"

Chapter Nine: "Learning the Truth"

Tommy ran to her and sat next to her, cradling her limp body. One word escaped from her lips, "Caroline......"

"Who's Caroline?" Kat asked.

"No one. Artemis is just been under a lot of stress lately," Selene urged, Helious nodding to approve the words.

"You guys are hiding something. Who's CAROLINE?" Tommy asked more meaningful.

"Do you think we should tell them?" Apollo consulted with the other guardians.

"It couldn't hurt, and it's the only way we'll be able to save Artemis," Helious told.

"Fine, then. Let me explain," Selene volunteered, "You know that little girl that was with Zesta when you came to Karther Island?" the Zeo Rangers nodded, "Well..."

Rocky interrupted Selene, "Zesta has another daughter?"

"No.....That little girl was Caroline. She's Shannon's," Selene paused, for what seemed like forever, "and Tommy's."

"WHAT?!?!"

"You heard me right, Tommy," Selene repeated herself.

Tommy didn't look at all shocked by the news. "Why didn't Shannon tell me about Caroline and how come she wants us to know?" Tommy asked.

"Well, Artemis never talked about Caroline because two years back when Apollo and Helious got trapped in the Cat's Eye Chamber, Zesta refused to let Helious and Apollo go unless Artemis gave Caroline to her. She did and was absolutely devastated. She never said word of her until now. She wants us to know about Caroline because she has healing powers that she inherited from Artemis." Selene explained thoroughly.

"So then if we get Caroline, she can heal Shannon?" Kat questioned.

"Excatomundo," Apollo answered.

"Rangers, you must get Caroline in hopes to save Artemis," Zordon instructed.

"It's morphin' time! Zeo Ranger V, Red!" Tommy shouted shakily, taking a glance at his girlfriend.

"Gold Ranger Power!" Trey shouted.

"Life, Element!" Apollo shouted.

"Alien Rangers of Aquitar, Power up!" the five Aquatians shouted.

They morphed and teleported out right away.

* * * * *

The fifteen rangers arrived at Angel Grove Cove to find Zesta, Caroline, and about thirty cogs.

The Aquatian Rangers, the Guardian Rangers, and the Zeo Rangers converged on the cogs, while Tommy confronted Zesta. "Give Caroline back to me!" he barked at the woman, who was right next to Caroline.

"Never! Seems as if Selene told you the truth. My daughter will die before she sees her daughter again!" Zesta snapped back, her eyes turning scared for a moment.

Tommy charged at Zesta. He did a front layout flip and grabbed the little girl form behind. He ran with her and hid behind a couple of rocks. But that didn't really help. Zesta began throwing black energy bolts all over the place looking for the two. Tommy realized he had to work fast. "Caroline, " he began, "Your mother is dying. You have to save her."

Tommy stared into her doe brown eyes, which were exactly like his. She had flowing straight brown hair up to her shoulders and was stubborn, as he could tell, like Shannon. But to account, Caroline was very impatient and gave in quickly, "Okay. Where's Mommy?"

"We're going to her. Hold onto my hand," Tommy told her as he stood up slowly.

Caroline took his hand and they teleported out before Zesta could get Tommy with one of her black energy bolts.

* * * * *

Tommy and Caroline entered the Power Chamber, hand in hand. Caroline looked around herself at the new surroundings, then her eyes stumbled across Shannon under the Viewing Globe, laying on the chamber floor. "MOMMY!" she cried and ran to her side.

Caroline sat down next to her mother's limp body and did an amazing thing, at least Tommy thought it was. She put her hand on Shannon's forehead and a white aura began to emit from her forehead and surrounded her body, healing the internal wounds Zesta had purposely caused. Shannon stood up from the ground woosily, picking up Caroline in the process and kissing her on the forehead. "Selene told you, didn't she?"

Alpha walked out of the Power Chamber into another room and Zordon disappeared from his tube, as to give the three privacy. "Yes she did." Tommy said, walking over to her.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you.....But you were leaving for Angel Grove at the time and you seemed so mad and angry. I thought if I told you you'd yell at me or something," Shannon apologized, putting Caroline down on the ground.

Tommy removed his helmet. "Don't say that. I would of never yelled at you. You mean far too much to me," Tommy's arms circled around Shannon's waist, "Besides, now that we're together, forever, I could never love you less than I do now."

Tommy's lips suddenly moved closer. Shannon lips touched his, brushing lightly, and then kissing back.

* * * * *

"Kia!" Trey cried, whacking the last cog.

"No more legs to stand on know, Zesta!" Tanya snarled.

"Next time rangers!" Zesta vanished within a black cloud of smoke.

"We'd better see if Shannon's okay," Rocky told.

"Right." Helious agreed.

The fourteen teleported to the Power Chamber.

* * * * *

They teleported quietly into the Power Chamber to see Tommy and Shannon kissing. They tried not to impose, but eventually Caroline got the couple's attention. She tugged on Shannon's towel, that still hung around her waist. "What?" Shannon looked down at her daughter.

"Look," she pointed towards where the other rangers stood.

The two turned around and backed up against the nearest console, blushing, when they saw fourteen pairs of eyes looking at them.

The rangers laughed just as Zordon came back on-line and Alpha came back into the chamber. "Well done, rangers, but I am afraid the battle isn't over yet." Zordon apologized with regret in his voice.

"What do you mean Zordon?" Kimberly asked her mentor.

"Zesta knows it's not over. Trey still possess' the Universal power and she has not unleashed the Element Rangers at full strength," Corcus explained to the lone Kartherian Ranger.

"Full strength for the Element Rangers is six rangers. There are six crystals: Fire, Water, Wind, Nature, Light, and Sound. We only met up with the Fire, Water, Wind, and Nature Rangers." Apollo went into greater detail.

How can she have six rangers when she only has four people?" Rocky wondered.

"She might save the crystals for later, she might get two more people to be her Light and Sound Rangers, or she just might divide the powers evenly between the remaining rangers," Apollo answered.

"Well, really must be going. We must rehydrate on Aquitar. Good bye rangers and may the power protect you." Delphine said on behalf of the Alien Rangers and they were engulfed by the colorful H2O symbols.

"Bye!" the other rangers called.

"I must be going also. Learning to control this immense power will be difficult," Trey notified.

"If I can train the power, you can. Good-bye, Trey," Shannon encouraged and bade as the Gold Ranger disappeared in a bolt of black and gold energy, "You three HAVE to go," Shannon waved her hand at her three guardian friends.

"Why?" Selene insisted.

"Because Apollo would drive me crazy and Zesta would be after us all the time," Shannon explained, truthfully.

"She's got a point," Apollo chimed.

"Fine, then. See ya around Artemis!" Selene called to her friend as the teleported out in purple, orange, and silver lights.

"Everyone's gone, now what do we do?" Adam wondered.

A light went off in Tanya's head. "Meet up in the park in an hour. I've got an idea up my sleeve."

"You sure, Tanya?" Kat asked her best friend.

"Yes."

"Okay. Let's get outta here," Kimberly implied.

Tommy took his daughter's hand as they teleported out.

* * * * *

Shannon, carrying Caroline, and Tommy rang the door bell at Tommy's house. Shannon had changed out of her bodysuit and into a white sleeveless jumpsuit. Tommy was wearing a red shirt with blue jeans and a red flannel shirt tied around his waist.

The door opened and Tommy's fourteen year old sister, Tamara, greeted them. "Hey, why'd ya ring the bell Tommy?"

"Where's Mom and Dad?" Tommy asked his sister, as him and Shannon stepped into the house.

Tamara recognized her brother's serious face and his girlfriend's as well. "They're in the rec room."

Tommy lead Shannon towards the rec room, Tamara following them. "Are you sure we're doing the right thing?" Tommy whispered to Shannon.

"Yeah, I am. I mean we can't hide Caroline forever and to explain what happened we have to tell them we're the Power Rangers." Shannon answered.

They walked into the rec room with Caroline. "Mom? Dad?" Tommy said.

Coreen Oliver looked up from the book she was reading and Kevin Oliver looked up form the newspaper. "What, Tommy," Coreen asked her son, then noticed Shannon with Caroline in her arms, "Tamara, could you please leave?"

Tamara left and closed the door behind herself. "Hello, Shannon," Kevin greeted his son's girlfriend.

"Hello, Mr. Oliver. I think you know why we're here," Shannon shifted Caroline to her left hip.

"Sit down," Coreen insisted, as the two teenagers sat down on the sofa in front of the two parents.

"So this is the baby?" Coreen broke the eerie silence that descended upon the four.

Tommy's jaw dropped as Shannon smiled slightly, "Yes, her name is Caroline."

"How did you know?!?!" Tommy practically yelled, after pulling himself together.

"Tommy," Kevin began, "Shannon told us before we left Summer Springs."

"So you knew all this time and didn't tell me?" Tommy was at the point of blowing up.

His parents kept ultimately quiet. Shannon put her hand on his. "You know I had my reasons telling them not to tell you."

Tommy calmed down. "Yeah, I do. Now we have something to tell you....I don't know how to say it. To put blunt, Shannon's the White Ranger and I'm the Red Ranger." Tommy bluntly stated.

Him and Shannon took turns telling the story of the latest happenings. After they finished Coreen nor Kevin were surprised. "It's really no surprise. Ever since we moved to Angel Grove you've been acting strangely," Coreen waved her finger at Tommy, "First you started to constantly wear green and had this odd looking watch on your wrist all the time. Then you started wearing all white, once the White Ranger joined the Power Rangers, and then when the Zeo Rangers showed up, your whole wardrobe revolved around the color red."

"Also your friends changed according to the Power Rangers. When Jason, Zack, and Trini for the Peace Conference, Rocky, Adam, and Aisha started hanging around with the rest of you and wore red, black, and yellow. Then Kimberly left and Katherine came in her place, wearing pink. When the Zeo Rangers showed up, Billy started wearing black and gray, I'm assuming he wasn't a ranger anymore, and Aisha left suddenly, bringing Tanya into the picture, wearing yellow. Adam and Rocky stopped wearing red and black, and instead started to wear blue and green. Jason came back from the Peace Conference, the same time the Gold Ranger showed up and started to wear black, the main color on the Gold Ranger's suit. Then the Gold Ranger left and Jason left. Shannon shows up about the sametime the White Ranger does and is wearing white practically every day. That brings us to now," Tommy's father explained, "We're not blind you know."

"Of course not.....But are we really that obvious?" Shannon asked.

"Yes. At least to people who know you well," Coreen answered the girl.

Suddenly their communicators go off. "What?" Tommy spoke into his.

"Did you two forget or something? Remember, we were supposed to MEET at the park, not call each other to the park," Rocky's voice came over the communicator.

"Shut up, Rocky! We're busy, we'll be there in a bit. Shannon out," Shannon barked into hers and cut off communication.

"We gotta go," Tommy told his parents, standing up from the sofa.

"Go ahead. Just be back in time for dinner," Kevin told his son.

"Right," he answered.

Tommy grabbed Shannon by the waist, because she couldn't acivate her communicator while she was holding Caroline, and the three teleported out in a mixed streak of red and white.

* * * * *

An hour later, everyone was at the park, talking about the previous battle after eating a quick picnic Tanya had whipped up. The conversation took a turn towards the new Element Rangers, their friends. "I can't believe Zesta is so low to use four rangers, not to mention our friends, against us." Rocky spat.

"Hey, it's been done before," Adam added.

"But not this way," Kat contradicted, "I mean they have powers and know us all too well."

"And the way she dresses....Ugh! Talk about out of fashion!" Kimberly said disgusted, changing the subject at the same time, not wanting to talk about them.

Shannon stood up from her place, listening to the conversation, "You guys, I'll be right back."

She headed down to the beach with Caroline and a bucket. Tommy thought to himself, *This is the moment.* "Kim, can I talk to you, alone?" he asked her.

"Sure," she answered shakily.

They may have fought Zesta, but both of them were thinking about the conversation they had at the Youth Center. Tommy walked over to over to near by bench, that wasn't so near as to let the others be able to hear their conversation. Kimberly followed him and sat down.

They were silent for a number of minutes before Kimberly opened her mouth. "Tommy you know the talk we were having about......my boyfriend?" Kimberly said the two last words with uncertainty.

"Yes." Tommy shook off the feeling of hurt and envy.

"Well, to tell the truth, when I sent you the letter', I had no boyfriend."

"You lied?!?!"

"Yeah. I'm really sorry, but........I guess I was afraid that you'd find another girlfriend easily, seeming that all the girls would be looming around you, and dump me. So, instead, I made the first move."

"Oh, Kim. Now that you've said all you've said, I don't want to tell you the truth."

"Whatever you say won't hurt me."

"Okay. I'll start from the beginning. Before I moved to Angel Grove, I lived in Summer Springs. Back in Summer Springs, Shannon was my girlfriend. When we were fifteen, she got hit by a car and six months later, I moved to Angel Grove. When I came to Angel Grove, you could say at first I had problems adjusting. I was mad at my parents, I was mad at myself, I was almost mad with Shannon, but I could never get mad with her. So I decided to take all that madness out by working on my Karate. I signed up to challenge Jason at the exhibition......" Tommy was cut of by Kimberly.

"Where we first saw you."

"Right. After that whole Evil Green Ranger thing and after we faced the Slimy Spider, I told Jason about Shannon. The next time she was brought up was after I got my White Rangers powers. After we defeated Ooze, I got a message from him on my machine. He was talking about If I was still thinking about Shannon?' He told me to forget her and not to hurt you. He called Shannon a bitch, and that was the end of the line. I called him back and left an outrageously pissed message for him and later he called me back. We worked it out, then I swore him to secrecy to forget about Shannon. I know there's really no point in telling you all this, but......" Tommy trailed off.

"But what, Tommy? Confess."

"I loved you and cared for you. But there was never that clicking' feeling between us and to go farther into the truth, you reminded me of Shannon so much. One might say I used you, but I didn't. What was even more stupid was when you left me, I tried to use Kat as a replacement for you, who was......"

"A replacement for Shannon. It's okay Tommy. I understand where you're exactly coming from. I'm sorry about everything, but there's more to my explanation, too. After sending that horribly written letter, I thought you would all hate my guts. So I never called anymore. And when Jason started writing me, I got the low down on the rangers. When he lost his Gold Ranger powers, he was almost like you. He broke up with Emily and instead of secluding himself, he flew down to Florida to visit me."

"So that's where he went."

"Yeah. And suddenly I found myself comforting an old friend. But as the weeks past we evolved from friends. We became in love with each other."

"Oh, Kim. I'm so sorry."

"Thanks, but it's not your fault, so don't worry. We just have to hope we find the way to break the spells over all of them."

"Friends?" Tommy asked his ex-girlfriend, as he opened his arms for a hug.

"Of course." Kimberly leaned over and hugged him in a friendly way, "By the way, I never thanked you and Shannon and the rest of the guys for helping me."

"Don't worry about it. You were an old friend in need and we were there to help."

There was a long silence before a cry broke it. "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

They snapped their heads back around to the picnic where they saw Rocky soaked in his clothes, Shannon behind him a bucket in hand and a smirk across her face. Caroline was running up to the two and she jumped into Tommy's lap. "Look it!" she exclaimed, pointing at the soaked Rocky.

"Yeah, he's wet, huh?" Tommy asked a rhetorical question to his daughter as he wrapped his arms around her. Only hours ago, Tommy had found out he had a daughter, yet he felt ultimately close to her already.

Kimberly looked at Tommy and Caroline. *He'll make a great dad.* she thought to herself, watching how close they were, only knowing each other for three hours.

They stood up from the bench and walked over to the picnic. "I told you that you would get something for the water joke," they heard Shannon tell Rocky as they walked over.

Rocky opened his mouth, but he didn't say anything. "Better watch out Rocky. A fly might fly into your mouth!" Tanya laughed.

Tommy, Caroline, and Kimberly approached Shannon as the group laughed at their wet' friend.

Will the rangers find the way to break Zesta's spell? Will they see the Element Rangers again? Will Tommy make a good father?

Rule

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