Disclaimer: The Power Rangers and all known characters in their universe still belong to Saban. There is a mention of Callisto who belongs to Universal. Kemora and Elemi belong to KSuzie. All other characters belong to me.
Author's Note: I apologize for the length of time it has taken to get this chapter up. Life gets busy when you have two toddlers. Who won't nap. But we have settled into a good routine after months of crazy days so I am hoping things will change and I will have free time in the afternoons again. Thank you so much to all of my readers for sticking with me! I promise I am not giving up on you, just getting kicked in the butt by life lol.

Dark Inheritance
"Hidden Agenda"

It had been a long time searching but Deimos finally had the definitive information he was looking for. Now he was ready to move forward with his plan. The rangers were on edge, anticipating his next move. That pleased him to no end.

His first attack he had shown them his power, he had seen their fear. It had not, however, gone like he wanted it to. He was furious with his people. The Boomer brothers, who had destroyed worlds, were in the end beaten by the Planetary team. His Keresecks, although tough, were taken out. Even Shax didn't fare well.

Kemora was resisting him with a force he hadn't expected. He wasn't surprised when it was Arius. However she should have respected his power, the potential for their union, and returned with him.

Now it would be up to him to force her hand. He'd kidnap her unwillingly if he had to. He only needed her by his side long enough to consummate their union and produce an heir. A legitimate heir would be enough to secure his spot on the throne. He would like her to come willingly though. The power that she would bring to him would make their union the strongest the forces of evil had ever seen. No one would be able to stop them.

He thought about going after the human she loved, however that was going to prove just as difficult. He would put that on the back burner for the moment. He had a plan – one that would make capturing a human, even a ranger, easy if need be. However he didn't think it would come to that. His plan had enough surprising force to destroy the rangers in more ways than one.

Arius did have one plan he agreed with, one that would have worked had he known how to do it right. That was why he decided to seek out information, to confirm whether or not the galactic whispers were true. They were and he could do what he wanted, just not himself. He had a way to get someone to do the task for him, and by this time tomorrow he would have what he desired. Then it would be an easy step from there to get Kim's attention, show her his power and threaten her to make her stand in line. If she didn't listen, he'd use that same power to bring her down and take her away.

For now, he didn't want her to forget about him. He would take down a member of his army to the surface. One that would probably be defeated, but that was alright, it would prove to be the distraction he needed to get the job done.

It was a hot, humid late summer afternoon – much too warm for an eleven month old to be outside. Yet there Denise sat under an umbrella in a high chair, throwing cereal puffs across the table while simultaneously banging her Sippy cup, causing more than one head to turn in her direction. Kat simply smiled at the curious onlookers while mouthing an apology, and for the most part they smiled back while cooing at her daughter.

Her cousin was late, she wished she'd hurry up and get here before her daughter's patience grew thin and she'd have to turn an outing with the white ranger into a super quick lunch. She hoped that wasn't the case. She wanted to use the time to talk, to bring up a subject that the other woman wouldn't like, although it had to be addressed. It was the only reason she was sitting outside. She hoped it would put Carri in a better mood.

She didn't like the idea of broaching a subject she knew was going to cause controversy, not after everything they've been through and everything they were trying to come back from. However it needed to be said – to more than just Carri really – and someone who cared about her enough was going to have to be the one to say it.

Before she could dwell further a loud noise cut through the outdoor chatter. Kat looked up to see her cousin making her way toward her, phone in hand. As she got closer she could hear her end of the conversation. "Look I am having lunch. So you can tell his pompous ass to get a grip and deal until I get back…. Yes because I told you so is really going to help at this point… Ha-ha funny…. Thank you Brian, we will figure it out when I get back. Bye," she finished, plopping down ungracefully across from Kat with a roll of her eyes.

"Well," the former pink ranger said with a half-smile, "sounds like you've got your hands full."

"You could say that," she replied with a sigh. The head of costume design had come highly recommended. He was a genius, but with that came his feeling that he was better than everybody else. There was only a little bit left to shoot of the movie, and the new pieces he was designing were going to make the last few scenes they were shooting. It would be fantastic… if she didn't kill him first.

She gave a slight nod in reply. Her cousin clearly didn't want to elaborate and she wasn't going to ask. In high school she would have immediately sat down and told her everything that was bothering her. Now they didn't have that kind of relationship anymore and for a brief moment she was nostalgic for the old days, some of which she'd like to recapture but didn't know if she ever would.

Carri mistook the look on Kat's face for irritation. "Sorry I'm late," she said, although there wasn't much she could do about it. She was lucky she got away at all. She smiled at Kat and glanced over toward Denise, who threw a puff that rolled across the table and landed in Carri's lap. She chuckled a bit to herself. If throwing food was her response for being forced to wait she might end up with a bit more of Carri's attitude than her mothers.

Kat smiled as Carri was studying her daughter and then waved her apology off. "No need to apologize."

Before anything could be said, their waiter wondered over. He had seen the other woman's arrival, he knew they had to finally be ready to get started. "Can I get you something to drink?" he asked, looking over at Carri.

"Iced tea would be great," she replied as she gave him a quick smile before glancing down at the menu. It wasn't like she had to study it long, they ate here all the time.

The waiter started to walk away and Kat stopped him. "Could you bring some fresh rolls? With honey butter? My daughter loves them." Bulkmeier's didn't always serve rolls, but as their business grew so did their menu and Bulk seemed to think it was a nice touch. Kat could care less, but her daughter ate them like they were going out of style.

"I would be happy to bring the rolls but the supply truck got delayed and we are fresh out of honey butter," he said, giving a quick apology before turning and walking off.

In response, or at least it seemed that way, Denise gave a sound conveying her dissatisfaction and Carri swore the baby rolled her eyes. "Ha!" Carri exclaimed out loud, getting a kick out of the baby's attitude. "Looks like you got a mini-me." Denise giggled and then spit up. Carri raised an eyebrow as Kat moved quickly to clean her up. It was a good reminder of what she really did not want to deal with in life. Having kids was not for her. It was more than just the spit up factor. She didn't want to be pregnant and she had no desire to have a kid that got raised by the nanny because she was putting in sixty hours a week at work.

Kat chuckled as put her spit up cloth in a plastic baggie and stuck it into the diaper bag. "You know you could make your own mini-me one day," she said, watching as her cousin adamantly shook her head no. "You like Denise, I see it. You say you don't want kids but I think you should consider it. You'd make a good mother."

Carri rolled her eyes. Liking someone else's kid that you never ever have to take responsibility for and having a kid of your own were two completely different things. Besides even if one day she ever got the inclination to have kids, that wasn't going to happen. It was easier just to bust Kat's bubble right now and move on with things. "I can't have kids."

"What are you talking about?" Kat asked, going very still and looking at her cousin. As far as she knew she was in perfect health, there was no reason why she shouldn't be able to have a baby.

"Kemora's attack," Carri said, trying to keep the details to a minimum. She knew Kat knew about the attack. Her dad had been upset with her staying another week on vacation and it had filtered down to Kat, who tried to contact her cousin to make family peace. She'd been surprised to get a hold of Rocky instead, and even more surprised to find out her cousin should have been dead. "The treatment… I'm not the same," she said cryptically. She didn't want to discuss her half alien DNA out in the open like this. "Chances are I will never be able to have kids."

"Carri…," she said softly, letting her voice trail off. She was saddened for her cousin and she was furious as well. This was what she was trying to prevent. The awful things that could come from being a ranger. "I know this may be hard to hear, but maybe it's time to hang it up, let the younger generation take over." This was what she came out here to say, and Carri had given her the perfect opportunity to say it. She'd seen the team out in Ocean's Bluff on the news. Rangers were recruited all the time, it didn't have to be Carri and her friends.

"No way in hell," Carri said quickly. She'd be a ranger until she couldn't physically do the job anymore. She felt better now than she had in years. She was going to help take out Deimos and whatever other threat that needed her Planetary Powers. If there was nothing next that needed the team that would be fine, the ranger in her would find other ways to be useful fighting evil, but there was no way she would retire.

"Think about it," Kat practically begged. After what just happened with Kemora she thought for sure she'd be a little more receptive. "You – and the rest of the team – have lives you are leading, significant others and people you work with that count on you to be there. You don't need to get yourselves killed."

"But it's ok for me to send someone inexperienced out there to get killed?" Carri asked, trying hard not to raise her voice.

"I worry about you. Your brother worries about you." Josh didn't know about Carri almost dying, but he did know a lot of other stuff and they talked at length while he was in town for the wedding. Kat was the only person Josh could talk to.

"I appreciate your concern, I do," she said. It couldn't be easy to be on the outside. She would never understand it. To her it was a high school duty, one she fulfilled and moved on. To Carri and the others it was their way of life. "You aren't going to change my mind though, you won't change any of our minds." They were all firmly in this world and she knew Kat had been well aware of that since college.

Kat opened her mouth to make an argument that Carri knew she didn't want to hear, she knew they were working on another fight. She spotted someone getting led to a seat and she saw a way out of it that wouldn't involve her making her cousin cry. "Matt!" she called out through the crowd.

She didn't miss the face her cousin made as her childhood friend turned his head in their direction. "Hey!" he yelled out, walking toward them. "What are you guys doing here?"

"I live here. I eat hear all the time. The better question is what are you doing here?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. He was a professional soccer player and as far as she knew he was staying in Los Angeles with some teammates for the duration of the soccer season.

"Visiting. Enjoying a bit of down time," he replied with a grin. They had a few days between games. He had gone to practice the previous afternoon and then they were given time to go home, at least until tomorrow night's practice.

She gestured to the open chair. "Why don't you join us?" she asked. Not only would it be fun to talk to one of her oldest friends, but it would keep Kat's mouth shut on the subject of her retirement.

"I don't want to impose," he said, although truthfully he'd jump at the chance. He was just stopping by Bulk and Skull's place for a solo lunch but it would be a blast to have it with Carri, even if her cousin was there.

"No you're not imposing at all. In fact you have perfect timing. We haven't even ordered yet," Carri replied with a grin.

"In that case," Matt said as he sat down.

Kat resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her cousin. If they had been more alike, she'd have something to say about it, but she was never as direct as Carri with her anger. She knew good and well Carri really wanted him there to end their conversation. Kat wasn't even a fan of his and she knew it. She only tolerated him because of her cousin.

Matt glanced briefly at Denise. "Cute kid," he said, registering somewhere in his mind that Carri had said her cousin was having a baby with the loser.

"Thank you," Kat said, giving him a smile. "She'll be one soon. Speaking of, Carri we are throwing her a party. I am not sure of the date yet, but it will be on a Saturday afternoon. I do hope you won't have any commitments that keep you from attending."

That comment was totally a dig at their previous conversation and both women knew it. If the world needed saving at the time of Denise's birthday, she was going to roll that into how horrible a person Carri had been and how she needed to quit the rangers. "I will certainly mark it in my calendar and I will hope the powers that be don't interfere but some things are out of my control." She knew Kat well enough to know she wouldn't try to come up with a retort. If the situation were reversed Carri would keep digging but Kat wasn't like that. She tended to just file things away for later.

A silence fell over the group and Matt recognized the look on Carri's face. The one she gave when she was daring someone else to pick a fight. He didn't think Kat would bite, but just to be safe he moved to change subjects. "So how are you?" he asked as he pulled Carri's attention toward him.

The white ranger deflated a bit and smiled. Their difference of opinion argument on what her ranger commitment is had been going on for years and probably wouldn't get any better. Kat wanted her to retire and she wouldn't, end of story. Instead of focus on that this afternoon, she was going to focus on her friend. Maybe she could save her lunch after all.

Kim found herself standing around a tiny counter with what felt like 500 other people waiting for her name to be called. All she wanted was caffeine, some days she felt like that was too much to ask. It wasn't that she needed it. Her body recovered much faster than it ever did when she was younger. It was that she had had a long night and it would make her feel better. So after scarfing down lunch at her desk she used her break to go wait in the Starbucks line.

As she thought about her night she sighed. She lost count of how many hours she'd spent awake. Once Tommy fell asleep, she slipped into the bathroom and disappeared. She hated sneaking out, it wasn't like he couldn't know. It was that she knew if she told him he'd want to go with her and she wasn't even sure there was anything worth finding anyway.

In the end she was right, had Tommy gone he would have gone with her on a wild goose chase and she doubted he'd have been much good for teaching this morning. However she had to go. There was a chance she could have gotten some information about Deimos. The lead came from Ninjor, which was why she wasn't sure of its validity. It wasn't that Ninjor didn't know things or would intentionally lead her wrong. It was that he was senile and had locked himself away for centuries, his information wasn't exactly current. In the end, from what she could gather, his clues were right only his location was off. She even jumped around the timeline trying to find the answer but there was none.

She frowned as a few people beside her got their drinks and parted, revealing a table previously hidden in the corner. The sight of the couple making out got her attention, and when she realized who they were she put her hands on her hips and marched over there. "Rhianna!" she said sharply, getting the other woman's attention. "Your mother is absolutely livid." That was an understatement. She talked to Kim regarding the Deimos front but wouldn't do much on the teaching front until the Rhianna disaster was dealt with and her headache was gone.

She kept threatening to physically, quite possibly magically, yank her back to the mystic realm but so far she had done nothing. She had a feeling that part of her knew Skull would die soon anyway, soon as related to her scale, and that Rhianna would come back to finish her training. The former evil doer was also worried about her daughter rebelling, forming another army in response to her separating her from Skull. The girl was powerful and she didn't really understand how to use that power. She was also nothing more than an angst ridden teenager and those thoughts combined were enough to make Mystic Mother think about the situation more than she normally would.

She had a feeling once the two sides could sit and have a civilized discussion they would come to some sort of agreement. Not because Mystic Mother wanted to have Skull as a son in law, but because they were obviously in love. She couldn't create a potion to bring forth that kind of emotion. As long as her daughter was quite aware that she was still in charge and would come when she called, she thought she'd let this run its course. At the end of the day Skull would die and Rhianna would receive the rest of her training. By then she would be intergalactically considered no longer a child and would find a marriage her parents would approve of.

"Mummy and I aren't exactly on speaking terms right now," Rhianna replied with a roll of her eyes, "which makes her being angry not my problem."

"Not your problem?" Kim replied, her eyes giving off the faintest red glow as stared down the young girl.

Rhianna held the stare without budging, her only response being the huff she gave off when her husband tried to slink into the background. He knew who Kim was, who the others were, although he was sworn to secrecy. If he were to even tell Bulk she would reign down all her power on him, and he knew she could do it. He not only knew that the kids he picked on in high school were the rangers, but that the girl who he once had a crush on had the potential to have just as much power as her mother and was her mother's student. She knew the thought of seeing that kind of power scared him and he would want nothing to do with this conversation.

"How about this," Kim said, trying her hardest not to blow her lid right here in front of everyone. She didn't have Carri's temper, but the attitude of this girl was putting everything she was doing in jeopardy. "Why don't you make it your problem. You do realize that the constant headache your mother has is keeping her from helping me?" Rhianna started to open her mouth but Kim cut her off. "I know, I know, you don't care but you should. I have five thousand things on my plate right now, all of them critical, and I need her help to solve my problems." Mystic Mother didn't actually know how to defeat Deimos, she pointed her in a few directions, but she'd had some thoughts as to some more advanced magic techniques that may help. The problem was she refused to teach them until her headache went away. At the moment the red ranger was staring right at her headache. "Without your mother, I can't improve, and if I can't improve I can't win and if I can't win – well does the name Kemora ring any bells?"

Rhianna made a loud clicking sound with her tongue and forcibly flopped back in her seat. "Jeeze you don't have to be so overdramatic," she said with a roll of her eyes.

Despite the vibe she was trying to give off, Kim could see that Rhianna understood. Should she become Kemora the chances of both her and Skull surviving and living out their lives were slim. "Just go home and see your mother."

"Maybe mum and I could meet somewhere, you know, neutral," Rhianna said as she sat back up. She wasn't about to go home. Her mother would set out some sort of trap and wouldn't let her back out. Of course it wouldn't last, and that would just make things worse. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed her husband pop back up and scoot back toward his position at the table.

"I'm sure she would," Kim said. Mystic Mother didn't venture outside of the Mystic Realm, but there were places within the realm that were open where the two of them could meet without Rhianna worried her mother was going to cage her forever. "Send her a message," she encouraged the other woman to use the same magic she did whenever she wanted to let Mystic Mother know she needed to see her.

As Rhianna mumbled some sort of reply, the barista called Kim's name. "Finally, she mumbled as she went to retrieve her drink. She could hear the attitude coming from Rhianna as she spoke to Skull but she ignored it as she grabbed her beverage and took a giant grateful sip. When she turned to walk away from the counter, her communicator chirped. "Of course," she muttered, realizing that the delicious flavored coffee beverage in her hands was now $5 wasted. She walked briskly toward the entrance, pausing briefly at Rhianna's table. "Enjoy," she said dropping it off before going to find a quiet corner to figure out what Deimos was up to now.

The battle was going full force on the surface at about the pace Deimos expected. Kaycea and her team were handling themselves well and would most likely win out eventually. However that wasn't of any importance to him. What did matter was the task he now needed to complete.

He found a target. That hadn't been hard, there were enough former rangers wandering around the surface that he had a pool to pick from. This one stood out. It was someone the rangers trusted, and someone who had been evil once before. Someone who could easily access their command center and retrieve what he wanted. She seemed to still interact with the current rangers, he was fairly certain she could slip in and out without raising much suspicion.

That was why he found himself sitting quietly in a chair in the home of a former ranger. He knew he would get his opportunity any moment, and sure enough she turned the corner and came face to face with him. He watched with amusement as she jumped back, her posture shifting into a defensive stance.

"Old habits die hard I see," Deimos mused, well aware that this particular human hadn't been a ranger for many years.

"Get out of my home," Kat said, her voice cold and hard. She had just put her daughter down for a nap and she was still stewing from her lunch with her cousin. This was the last thing she needed.

"I have no interest in your daughter. I just want you to do me a favor and then I will be gone," Deimos assured her, giving her a smile that sent a chill down to her spine.

Kat shifted uncomfortably, looking around and trying to figure out the best course of action. She needed help – she needed ranger help. Her old communicator was stashed up in locked box in her bedroom and she doubted anyone would answer her phone call but she had to do something.

"I'd stop right there if I were you," Deimos said as he revealed his wings, showing her how truly frightening he was. "I said I have no interest in your daughter but that doesn't mean you can't change my mind." He didn't fool with petty things, unlike some of his predecessors. He had a goal in mind – ruling the evil empire – and he had no desire to waste time on things that wouldn't get him there.

He shifted and sat straight up and continued speaking. "Now you can't reach your friends and they won't come for you – of that you can be certain." They couldn't know he was there, he used the demon that rose to most powerful sorcerer in his army to cloak himself. Even if for some reason they did want to drop by it wouldn't be until well after the battle was done and he had ensured it would go on a while.

"What do you want from me?" Kat asked, suddenly aware of the fact that as much as she lectured her cousin, she was the one standing here, her life, her home, her family in danger and she had been retired for almost ten years.

"I thought I was clear. You are going to do a favor for me and then you will forget I ever graced your presence."

"I refuse to do anything for you. Retired or not I am still a Power Ranger," Kat said, taking a step back as Deimos stood. She may not want to ever wear the spandex again, but that didn't mean she was going to join the other side. She knew what was at risk that was why she had to do something to get out of there, get her daughter out of there.

"I didn't expect you to help willingly," he replied as he pulled a vile from his belt and held it up, allowing her to see the potion stored inside.

Kat's eyes grew wide as she knew exactly what that was. She couldn't allow him to put her under an evil spell. Last time… well she still had trouble forgiving herself for all of the things she did. "If you use that on me my friends will just free me from your spell."

"Of course they would," Deimos replied. He would expect nothing less from Kaycea. Although she was still considered a novice sorceress she would figure out his potion and how to reverse it. "I only expect you to be evil long enough to do my bidding. I have faith you'll succeed quickly, rumor has it you're good at being evil. When your task is complete you will wake up on your couch, having no memories of what you did for me." He would love to make her evil and keep her that way, but it didn't do anything for him. He'd have Kaycea coming after him, trying to save this girl, when he was going to need the silence to start the next part of his plan. Having his plan succeed was more important that one pathetic evil servant.

"I can't, I won't"

Before Kat could utter another word of defiance Deimos was on top of her. With one hand he grabbed her hair and roughly yanked her head back. He took the vial in his other hand and popped the top off before prying her jaw open and pouring the contents down her throat. With his palm he clamped her jaw closed and placed his hand over her mouth and nose, forcing her to swallow.

Tears fell from her eyes as she did, and with a laugh he let her go. He watched as she crumpled to the floor seconds before the potion kicked in. She screamed in pain for a few seconds and when it was over she stood.

"Master," she said, bowing toward Deimos. "How may I serve you?"

The tone in Kat's voice was one that hadn't been heard in years, one that current ranger team never wanted to hear again. For Deimos it was the first time and he found the noise quite pleasing. "I have a task for you," he replied with a smile as he prepared to send her on her way.

Kim sat front and center of the megazord as they worked the battle against the latest reject to go up against them. The megazord took a hit and she grumbled under her breath. He was powerful, she'd give him that much. There was a reason though that they were to this part of their battle and not still on the ground. He was dumb. Rito had a better chance of scoring a hit against the rangers than this guy. The only thing saving him at the moment was his abilities, but she was going to find a work around that.

"Jen," she said, snapping her head toward the pink ranger, "blow him back a bit, throw him off balance," she ordered, not waiting to hear her response. "Carri, give him a good jolt, I want him down for a moment. Everyone else, get ready to call for the saber. As soon as he is down we are going to hit him."

As the words finished flowing out of Kim's mouth, tornado like winds flew in front of the megazord, sweeping the creature up and pushing him back. He stumbled a bit but before he could get his bearings, a flash of lighting flew through the sky and knocked him flat on his butt. The moment the lightning crashed down the rest of the team was in motion, calling for their saber. They used it on him before he had a chance to figure out what was going on.

Battlefield cleared, Jason was the first to speak. "We good? I have a date to get back to." He said, glancing around the cockpit at the others. He didn't think there was much follow-up, this was relatively easy.

"Wait," Tommy said, holding his hand up as something below caught his eye, "we're not finished yet."

"Just peachy," Carri grumbled and Tommy shot her a look. She simply shrugged and he sighed, a good sign that the peace between them was still holding for the moment.

"Let's just do this so we can get back to work," Rocky said, ready to get this over with. He had a lot left to do at work that day and he had dinner plans for that night, he didn't want to waste time watching Tommy and Carri go at it.

"Agreed," Tommy replied. He had a classroom to get back to and he started the march out of the cockpit.

One by one the rangers jumped to the ground, Kim going last. She walked up past each one of her teammates, stopping when she found herself in line with her husband. "Did Deimos send you to get destroyed?"

"I think you have it backwards. He sent me to destroy your friends," Shax replied with a laugh, knowing good and well that the chances of success were small. He was only sent as a distraction, nothing more.

"We'll see about that," Kim replied as she and Tommy took off for Shax.

There were at least two dozen Keresecks surrounding him, and the rest of the team took off in several different directions to make short work of them. They hoped this was the end and that they would finish them quickly and go about their day.

Trini sat in the Command Chamber, watching as the team picked the Keresecks off one by one. Because they were so outnumbered it was slow going, and at times they were getting kicked back more than they should, but at least they were making progress.

She absentmindedly put a hand to her belly as she leaned back in her seat. She hoped they wouldn't be much longer, she had work to get back to. Running to provide assistance in battle usually wasn't her duty, it was her husband's. However this time she had gotten the call. Billy had set up his system so that if he couldn't get to a call it would default to her. When it came in she knew he had to be tied up somehow and she slipped out of the office.

She knew he hated it when she had to help, especially here lately. He constantly fretted over her and the baby and he didn't want any stress in her life. She appreciated the thought, but the reality was she knew what was at stake in the universe. It would stress her out more wondering if her friends won than sitting here watching them do it.

They were winning, they always did. That didn't mean they always would, she was well aware of that. For the moment though there were only a half a dozen Keresecks left. Carri and Jason had joined the battle against Shax, leaving Rocky, Jen and Zhane to finish off his lackeys.

Leaning back in her chair, she watched as the battle continued on. It didn't take the blue, pink and green rangers long to finish their job and before Shax knew what was going on there were seven rangers on top of him. It didn't take long for him to retreat.

"Wise man," Trini said with a chuckle just as a rainbow of beams appeared before her.

"I didn't like that," Jason said before briefly turning to acknowledge Trini's presence. The original yellow ranger gave him a nod and he turned back toward his teammates.

"Me neither," Kim said shaking her head. She enjoyed a dumb opponent once in a while. Rhianna had a tendency to create some of the worst monsters, a credit to her novice skills as a sorceress. However this guy was more worthless than the giant SpongeBob they once fought.

The fact that he was dumb wasn't the problem. It was the fact that he was part of Deimos's army, and the demon didn't strike her as someone who was ok with sending down an opponent just to lose the fight. He wanted to win, he wanted her, and that battle accomplished nothing. Then he let Shax waste Keresecks in a battle that, although it was time consuming and they were outnumbered, statistics said they'd win easily.

"It felt like busy work," Jen pointed out what had crossed all of the rangers' minds. "He was trying to keep us occupied," she added.

"Agreed," Tommy replied. The one lame opponent tactic was often used to remind the rangers the villain was still there, he'd seen it many times before in his tenure. However when they continued to waste resources in a battle like that there was usually something else they were covering up.

Kim whirled around to one of her oldest friends. "Did you notice anything come up while we were fighting? Did he trip any of the extra sensors we put in place?"

Trini shook her head. "Other than the ones going off in the park, nothing was disturbed."

"So then he wasn't on Earth?" Rocky asked, relieved that he hadn't gone after someone they cared about while they were fighting. He had a lot of people to keep safe – friends, family, students, extended family – they had always been in danger from the villain attacking Earth but this was the first person he thought might actually pose a serious threat.

"It doesn't seem that way," Kim said with a frown, wondering if he could have found a way to slip down here undetected. Someone well versed in magic could cloak him, she had seen it years ago with Callisto and Astronema, but it wouldn't be easy. She set the extra security herself to pick up on a cloaking spell, but she also knew if it was her she could break it. It wouldn't be easy – it would take someone almost as skilled as her in sorcery which Deimos was not. Arius might be, but he would have had to come to the surface as it would take a lot of research and preparation and he would have been spotted. He had been laying low for a while until this attack. What he was doing bothered her.

"So then he was doing something intergalactically he didn't want us to know about?" Tommy asked, glancing toward his fiancé.

"Possibly," she said, the nagging feeling that he had done something on the surface not leaving her. She turned toward the green ranger. "Tell Karone to put some feelers out, but not to spend too much time on it. He would have no reason to distract us if he wasn't operating within the area we monitored." She would check with Dulcea and Ninjor to make sure their corners of the universe were good – it probably wouldn't hurt to pop in on some of their allies on other planets as well.

"Will do," Zhane replied, hating that she might have to take off again but accepting it as part of what she did.

Kim's mind was running over a thousand different scenarios, trying to figure out what exactly this battle that was obviously nothing more than a distraction had accomplished for Deimos. Before she could mentally sort anything out, the rhythmic tapping of the white ranger's foot, which was increasingly getting louder, drowned out her thoughts. She snapped her head in her friend's direction and the tapping ceased.

"I don't like it," Carri said. She didn't like any of it. Those types of battles usually meant something worse was around the corner and she hated not knowing. She wanted to nip this in the bud before it turned ugly. With all eyes on her she elaborated. "I don't like that he's working on something quietly. It never goes well."

"You're preaching to the choir," Jason said with a snort. Although he was fairly certain she knew that and the upward roll of the eyes she gave in response suggested as much.

"Maybe you're wrong," Trini said, watching as all eyes turned toward her. "You're assuming he's much smarter than anyone we've ever faced. You're assuming he has the capability to distract us and slip around quietly, leaving us none the wiser. What if he doesn't? What if what we think we know, what we've heard isn't true and this was just his full force effort to get Kim to change her mind?"

The red ranger smiled at her friend, grateful for her optimism. That was nothing more than wishful thinking and every ranger knew it, but it had dissolved the growing unease in the room a bit. "Trini's right, we don't know for certain he did anything other than test us." Their first battle that he supervised was ten times harder and he had to know what they were capable of, but she would rather pretend that was it while they searched for the real answer. "Until we have something concrete there is nothing we can do. Nothing happened on Earth, Karone will see if she can get any information, and I will talk to some of our other allies across the galaxies. If he did anything, we'll find out and we'll reconvene." There was no certainty they would find anything out but these weren't novice rangers, they weren't going to buy it and she knew it. At the moment though they had no choice.

"Kim is right, let's just all get back to work. If anybody finds anything out we will move from there," Tommy agreed with her. There was no sense fretting over what could be. If they got information they could move, if not they would simply have to be extra vigilant with every hint of Deimos's true intentions they could find. Until then, most of them had work that needed to be done and what better way to distract themselves than to get down to it.

There were grunts and mutterings of agreement. Nobody liked it, but they all knew there was nothing more they could do at the moment. So one by one they said their goodbyes, teleporting off to the people they left behind for the fight. Kim was the last ranger to leave, and she gave Trini a quick hug before taking off to make rounds. She had a job of her own to get back to, she'd check in quickly and then go back to her desk.

While Trini was watching the end of the battle, Deimos sat in the Black household waiting for his minion to return. She had an easy task. The rangers wouldn't even know she stopped by, he had given her an amulet that would temporarily trick their sensors. If someone else teleported in or out while she was there it would break the amulet's hold and reveal her position but he wasn't worried, the entire team was busy. If they did catch her, she was a former ranger and a friend, she could lie her way out of it. All the same, he wanted her to return before the rangers caught on. Shax had just stepped onto the battlefield and he was hoping that the former ranger would be back before that team's inevitable defeat.

Much to his delight, a few seconds later a white streak teleported in. Kat saw him and immediately bent down to one knee. "Master," she greeted.

"Rise," he replied, smiling at her absolute obedience.

She stood and as she did, she removed the amulet from the cord around her neck and let the large leather satchel fall from her shoulder. Both items she handed back to Deimos.

The demon barely registered the amulet as he let it dangle around his wrist. The real prize was in the bag, and he was anxious to see if everything he had been told was true. He opened the bag and looked in, a smile spreading across his face as he registered the contents. Putting one hand around it, he pulled it out.

It was the most marvelous creation he had ever seen. The light caught on it and reflected off and he watched as Kat followed the beams. "I assume you know more about this than I do," he said, registering the excited look that crossed Kat's face.

"I am familiar with it," she replied. Familiar was an understatement. For her the item was personal.

"Then you know that it is one of the most powerful artifacts in existence," Deimos said with a smirk. "Rumors say Master Vile could have controlled the universe with it."

"He could have – once," Kat confirmed, remembering everything Zordon told her years ago. "Now though it's useless, having been drained in the final battle against Astronema."

"Not useless," Deimos replied, quickly correcting her. "Kaycea could recharge it, making it stronger than before. She simply chooses not to. I don't blame her, it would take weeks of constant energy drains to get it working again and she doesn't really need it with her full set of Planetary powers." There were manmade ways to temporarily recharge it, however none of the rangers had needed it so they left it rotting in their secure basement, just waiting for him to pick it up. "I however have a sorcerer with enough power to do it and enough will to please me to spend the next few weeks devoted to it. He will fill it with evil energy and I will have the perfect weapon in my battle for dominance."

"So it will be you who uses the crystal to take control of the universe?" Kat asked, a hint of excitement in her voice as she realized he was stepping in where Master Vile left off.

"Not quite," Deimos said, pleasantly registering her disappointment. "Master Vile would have conquered planets, eventually using his new power to overthrow Dark Specter and take control of the empire, making him supreme ruler of, well, everything. For me to do that, I need an empire to rule, which means I have to force them to come together under my leadership. Even with the crystal by my side I can't do that. However the crystal can get me Kaycea, who can reunite the empire for me. We will be so powerful that the crystal will merely be an added bonus," he explained, getting aroused by the mere thought of what his future would bring.

Kat nodded, feeling somewhat excited as well. "You will use its power against the rangers?"

"In a way," Deimos said, putting the crystal back in the bag. He turned toward the former ranger, not minding telling her his plan since he was about to put her to sleep and she wouldn't remember anything past putting her daughter down for a nap. "Arius was right about one thing – the best way to fight rangers was with rangers. However it couldn't be done by turning novice rangers. He need a strong power source – as in the Zeo Crystal – one that was fully serving the side of evil – and he needed strong rangers to wield that source. Once the crystal is charged, I plan on separating the shards and from there all I need is a ranger looking for the Zeo signature to touch it and they will be mine."

"I volunteer to be one of your rangers," Kat said, excited by the potential opportunity to serve him further.

"You have done well. Perhaps luck will be in your favor and you will work for me again soon," Deimos said, glancing down at the transmitter tucked into his belt. "For now, it is time for you to rest." The number of Keresecks was dwindling and he wanted to get back to his ship before the battle was over. He quickly led Kat to her couch and had her lie down and drink a second potion. This time she did it willingly, and seconds later she was sound asleep.

Satisfied that his work here was done, Deimos took off so that he could start the next phase of his plan.

Jason found himself back in the bar with Emily, but his thoughts were still with the battle. Deimos was up to something, they all knew it, yet they hadn't the slightest clue what it was. He hadn't sent that joke of an opponent down for kicks and he certainly didn't feel the urge to offer up Kereseck sacrifices. He was worried about what was going to happen next but it was all out of his control.

"Are you even listening?" Emily asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.

He looked at her, and although her voice was irritated he could see the softness in her eyes, see she was more concerned than angry. "I'm sorry. We just had a – weird – afternoon event and I don't like it at all. But I promise to stop thinking about it."

"It's ok," Emily replied, and she meant it. Jason had explained, as best he could, what they were up against when he enlisted again. She hadn't liked that he was back in the fight but she understood. He was chosen by his black ranger powers and at the end of the day that was probably for the best. He and his friends were some of the best damn rangers she knew. If anyone could save this universe and the fate of the others that this outcome affected it would be them.

Jason made a noise and shook his head. "I'm supposed to be here with you." He loved her and he was enjoying what they had. He didn't like not being mentally in it. On the other hand, he felt like he shouldn't be physically here at the moment either. He should be out there turning over every rock, looking for the one that held the clue they needed to pummel Deimos into submission. However that was pointless and he was supposed to continue on with his everyday life until they found something that wasn't. That meant he would have to try a little harder to mentally be here.

"I get it, I do," Emily said, watching as he narrowed his eyes and looked at her. "We're not eighteen anymore. I got into this relationship fully knowing what you were and what you did. It is the most important job and if something may be going bad I expect you to be thinking about it."

He watched as her hair fell casually down over her shoulder as she talked and leaned in toward him. "Thank you," he said as thoughts of Deimos left him as he thought about how nice this was. Women didn't understand who he was – he couldn't tell them. Even if he could, it was a lot to ask a woman to sit on the sidelines and watch the person they love run into battle.

Before he and Emily reunited he was beginning to think he'd never have a woman who got him, who understood who he was and what he had to do and was ok with it. His girls felt bad for him, he could see it in their eyes when he told them about another failed date, but they didn't get it, not really. They had only dated within the ranger family while they held morphers.

That was generally the way it worked best. Not only among his team, but Wes had Jen, Leo was with Kendrix, and even some of Tommy's kids dated for a while. The only exception to the rule that he knew of was Kat, and that was because she had happily walked away from the life.

He thought he could make himself an exception, but he was never going to walk away. It was never going to work for him with an outsider which made him miss Emily that much more. She was never a ranger but she knew about them, about him, and she was ok with that. Or as ok as one without a morpher could be.

"I love you," Emily said as she reached across the small table and put her hand over his. "All of you," she added, fingering the communicator on his wrist.

Jason gave her a smile and replied in kind. He was damn lucky to have her, he didn't want to let her go. He didn't know what that meant though. He knew what was on his mind. Despite her continued reservations Carri had already gotten married and Kim was finally going to make the jump with Tommy that he had seen coming for over a decade. The wedding chatter made him think about his own relationship and whether or not it would go that way.

Sometimes he wondered if it could go that way. He loved Emily, there was no doubt about that. However there was still something nagging him when he thought about marriage. Getting married was about trust, and while at the current moment he trusted her completely, thoughts of the future made thoughts of her betrayal come back. He didn't hate her, he didn't hold it against her, but the fact was she cheated on him once before. She was young and genuinely sorry that it happened. He didn't think she'd do it again, but still when he thought about their future that thought bounced around in his head.

He wanted to talk to the girls about it but he knew what they'd say. He could see the look they would give him, almost an 'I told you so' as they discussed the problem he was having. They had finally accepted her back into the fold and they were friends again but it was nothing like it was when they were younger. They didn't fully trust her and they still weren't sure he should. However for the past few months they had kept their mouth shut, watching to make sure she didn't do anything to hurt him. If they knew the questions he had they wouldn't tell him not to worry, they'd tell him to listen to the insane notion that he couldn't trust her, not fully.

Emily tugged on his wrist and tilted her head in the direction of the pool tables. "One just opened. Want to give it a go?"

"Do you have to ask?" Jason replied as he stood up, maneuvering to put his arm around her before leading her off. He wasn't going to give this up, not ever if he could help it. They hadn't even been together a year yet, he had plenty of time to squash this issue completely. One day he'd know with one hundred percent certainty that she would never hurt him again. That would be the day he'd move forward. Until that day came he would just settle for enjoying himself with the one woman he loved most.

It was just past six and Kim found herself finishing up the work that needed to be done that night. A few quick adjustments and an even quicker email and she will have made her six thirty deadline with time to spare. Which was a small miracle considering how long she had been out of the office that afternoon.

She jumped from world to world, speaking with people she hadn't talked to in ages including Trey and Delphine, plus other rangers such as Elemi who were a little more current. Not to mention she spent time with Dulcea and Ninjor, asking the same set of questions she was asking everybody else.

All in all she had been gone a little over a month, with some of her allies asking for help with things and her feeling obliged to stay and do so. She hadn't been in any one spot for more than a day or so, but every time she finished in one place she came back in time to the moment the battle finished to seek out someone else. It was important that she arrive close to the same time everywhere and not days or weeks later. The only way to know if they had noticed a recent interruption was to be there right after it happened.

Ultimately at the end of the day it was a waste of time. Throughout the corners of the universe, no one had noticed anything out of the ordinary. There were no sightings of Deimos or any of his cronies. No signs that he had touched anything he shouldn't have. Her allies were on alert now more than before but other than that the trip yielded nothing.

She had returned back to her office just as everything was returning to normal from the city's monster alarms. She slipped back into her desk and continued working like nothing happened, trying to forget about what she didn't know for the moment and concentrate on what she had to do.

Her focus was on the computer monitor in front of her, and when she heard her visitor come in she didn't look up. She didn't have to, she recognized the energy signature she was giving off immediately. "I thought we were all meeting at the restaurant," she said as her visitor sat down on an empty corner of the desk.

"We are," Carri replied with a shrug. "I am here to free you from this joint and pick you up."

"Seriously?" Kim asked, glancing over at her briefly and raising an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be picking up your date? Or am I your date?"

"You could be," she replied with a wicked grin. Kim simply shook her head and went back to getting her work finished up. "My actual date is on his way home from Turtle Cove. He had work to do and that fight today puts him getting back hopefully right on time. Then Ashley called just as I was finishing for the day. She had something for me so I do have a legitimate reason for raiding your office." Ashley had wanted her to take some designs home and look over them. She was excited about them, they were brand new and she was dying to put them on Carri's people for the fall release she wanted to launch.

Kim looked up to see the flash drive her friend held in her hands before going back to the computer and returning to her email. "This time," she teased before returning focus to her work.

"Yeah, yeah," Carri said with a roll of her eyes before she smiled. "You need to finish up. I know you didn't take any time to find out the nothing you found out." She was referencing her friend's ability to bend time and the email she had sent to the team shortly after their Command Chamber meeting, cryptically saying that her trip had been a waste of time and to just keep going about their business for now.

"Working on it," Kim said, making it obvious that her focus was on just that. She attached several files and as they worked on loading, she turned back to her friend. "Someone is excited for our dinner date."

She gave her a shrug in response. "I don't know about excited. I am however looking forward to putting thoughts of certain winged assholes and a failed lunch date behind me."

"Lunch date?" the red ranger asked, raising an eyebrow. The computer dinged and she turned back to finish up.

"With Kat. It was a disaster," she said, watching as her friend rolled her eyes. The fact that time spent with her and Kat didn't go well wasn't news. "Good news is Matt showed up in the restaurant, saved me from an uncomfortable conversation."

Kim simply sighed. "What did you do this time?" she asked, wondering when Kat was just going to accept Carri for who she was. This had been going on for years. While they were trying to mend their relationship and were actually doing pretty well, the issues were still there and they still came out on occasion.

"Gained the inability to reproduce," she said with a snort. Kat was mad about that. She never specifically said the words but her face gave it away. She may have chosen not to have kids, but she certainly didn't choose what happened with Kemora and the new lifesaving treatment that essentially left her incapable of having children if she decided to change her mind.

The team's leader couldn't help the groan that escaped her lips. Kat had a habit of using the rangers to get mad at Carri. While her friend did make poor decisions sometimes, there were other things that couldn't be helped. Like Kemora. No one asked her to attack and almost kill the two people closest to her. "She can't hold that against you."

"Oh she will. Or at least keep it close as a reason to retire." It really ticked her off. It was her life, she knew the risks and she accepted them. She was ok with dying for her planet. If Kat was happy being retired, giving it all up, she was happy for her, but playing the pretty little housewife with the two kids, dog and a white picket fence was not her. She'd take the being a wife part from Kat's equation, but she was a career woman and a lifetime ranger who didn't care about the rest of it.

"Kat is never going to get it," Kim replied. She had faithfully served her planet and she had happily retired her morpher when it was all said and done. Even when the conflict was over, the rest of them never truly retired. They still wanted to fight the good fight and they were all eager to be the first line in the defense of the planet. "You to just have to figure out how to deal with it and move on."

The white ranger let out a snort. "Easier said than done." If Kat would leave it be, she would never bring it up again.

Kim put the finishing touches on her email and hit the send button. "For the record, there is one former pink ranger that's encouraging you to fight. I'd listen to that one, she seems wise," she said as she stood and draped an arm around her friend.

"Yeah but that one's a little bossy," Carri teased as Kim quickly shoved her off her desk. It took the white ranger a moment to catch herself, and as she stood both girls made eye contact and grinned.

"Come on, let's meet the boys and get some food. I have a bad feeling we don't have a whole lot of uneventful meals ahead of us," Kim replied with a frown. Deimos was going to make his move, and when he did there would be no time for double dates. For now though they could try to eat and enjoy themselves. She attempted to push the demon out of her thoughts as she led her friend out of the office and toward the elevators. Whatever he was doing they would figure it out and stop it, and that would have to be enough for now.

The former pink ranger found herself waking up on the couch that evening. As she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes she heard her daughter crying.

Glancing briefly at the clock she realized it was after six, well past time for Denise to have been up and fed. She wrinkled her nose as she struggled to think about what happened. She remembered putting her down, she remembered coming into the living room. She must have passed out on the couch.

For her to sleep that well that long she had to have been exhausted. Lunch was mentally exhausting, but she didn't think it was enough. She hadn't done that since she was pregnant. That thought stopped her in her tracks. Could she be pregnant again? She was on the pill, but it was entirely possible. The pill wasn't one hundred percent. They wanted another baby, but not yet. Although if it did happen she wouldn't be upset.

Kat put her hand on her stomach and thought about it for a moment. She'd have to go buy a test. For now though she had one baby that needed her, and she stood and stretched and headed for the nursery.