Metamorphosis
Arc 1: Ascension
Chapter 14:
"Doomsday, Part 2"

"Hello and welcome to the mid-morning news. The date is December 31st, the top story is still the solar eclipse that has lasted over a week. As plants die out around the world, the sea-tides ebb strangely and children take in less vitamin D, scientists are still wondering why the sun is blocked out."

Billy turned the TV off and returned his attention to Ashley's diary. He squinted at the pages, as if trying desperately to find some hidden writing between the lines, maybe a 'help' or 'I'm over here'. He scratched his head and sighed, trying to make sense out of the writings and hoping to find a clear clue as to her whereabouts. He rubbed his eyes and flipped the page, looking at more doodles of hearts and 'Jason' written over and over again.

"Nothing yet?" Trini sat on Billy's bed and stared out the window. The pitch-blackness of the past few mornings had made her edgy and restless. "I feel like we've failed everyone." Her voice was glum and full of hopelessness.

"Listen to this, it's dated October 20. 'She came to me again today, the woman beyond the stars...she said.' The rest is illegible," Billy said with his face still buried in the book.

"Hmm…well, I guess that proves she's crazy," Trini shrugged.

"I guess so…October 22: my star mistress returned today, told me she's going to take me away. 'Take me away'? What in the hell - does she mean Rita?" Billy's brow furrowed.

Trini pried the book from his hands and flipped the page. "October 24: I wanted to caress him and hold him but he rejects me. I just want to know what it's like to be held and...not alone. October 25: my star mistress says she wants me... maybe I won't be alone anymore..." Trini blinked. "This is creepy."

Billy took the book back and examined the next page. "October 26..." He blinked, cleaned his glasses on his shirt and looked at the page again. "There's no entry here, just a date. That's weird...the rest of the book is blank." He placed the book on the bed and walked to the window, peering out into the abyss.

Trini flipped through the pages and shuddered involuntarily when she stumbled upon the last page. "There's something for October 30," her breath hitched, "but she scratched it out."

Billy took the book back and stared intently at the mess of ink on the page. "Daddy...mistress...traitor…this looks underlined. Something about stars?" She keeps going back to stars. 'Star mistress', 'woman beyond the stars', who is she talking about? It's most likely Rita, but what would she want from Ashley?

A loud crash shook Billy from his thoughts. "What in the world?" Trini muttered and looked out the window, however, the encompassing blackness made it impossible to see. "Should we panic?"

"Probably not," Billy said, extracting his Power Morpher from his nightstand for good measure.

"Where is everyone? It's too...quiet," Trini wrapped her arms around her as she approached the window again. She tilted her head and squinted about before spinning 180 degrees around in place. "Billy...is downtown Angel Grove NORMALLY all glowy and shit?"

Billy strode to the window quickly and peered outside. "No, that's not normal," he said confidently. "I'm sure it has something to do with the solar eclipse."

"We should probably get our asses down there," Trini said as a cold look crossed her face.

"Right," Billy agreed. "This could be bad."

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"We need a plan," Kimberly said. She was lying on her bed, her head hung off the edge and her auburn hair barely touched the floor. She breathed heavily and closed her eyes, trying to think up something, anything they could do to get out of their current predicament.

"What are we going to do?" Jason said. He was leaning against her bed, his head resting on the mattress while the rest of his body, while being next to hers, was seated on the floor.

"It's been a week, Jase, and we have no idea how to...you know...stop this," Kimberly gestured awkwardly.

"Mmm," Jason agreed. "We have no contact with Zordon, Alpha is non-operational and, oh, to make matters that much better, the Zords are low on energy. I'd say we're fucked!"

"Oh, but come on! Zordon must have chosen us for a reason!" Kimberly protested.

"Kim, we have no way to stop this unless you want to walk out there and get killed," he said forlornly.

"But, Jason, we need to do something," Kimberly once again pushed the subject.

A bright light suddenly filled the bedroom in the Hart's downtown apartment. Kimberly fell off her bed in an attempt to shield her eyes from the invasive light. Jason quickly shut the blinds, blocking out a better portion of it.

"What the hell? Did the sun come back?" Kimberly felt confused at this turn of events. For the past seven days it had been perpetually dark, now light flooded her bedroom.

"No, it's much to bright to be the sun," Jason groaned as his eyes adjusted to the light.

'What's going on?" Kimberly's breath deepened.

"Uhm…the apocalypse?" Jason shrugged. "Whatever it is, we should probably investigate."

"I thought you said we should just stay put?" Kimberly groaned.

"Did I say to stay put? I don't remember that."

"You said it yesterday, but you're right, let's go."

"Should we call the others?" Kimberly asked.

"How? The phone lines are down and the solar eclipse has somehow messed with our communicators," Jason said point-blank.

"Oh. Right," Kimberly said despondently, "let's go."

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Zack shifted his body on the sofa, trying, in vain, to find a comfortable position to sleep on. The constant darkness had messed up his sleeping schedule, but he tried not to let that bother him. He sighed in the darkness that covered his house. Wondering what time it was, he pealed himself off the sofa and walked into the kitchen.

That fucking clock never wants to fucking work, Zack sighed. He opened the fridge and an eye-burning light flooded the room. Ah, fuck! He scrambled to shut the blinds and finally found relief in the re-blackened room.

This definitely isn't the usual morning routine, he sighed and heard random, frantic footsteps upstairs. Courtney must've had her shades open. He laughed heartily until a loud crash filled the house. What the fuck is that bitch doing?

Zack trudged through the house, shielding his eyes with his hands whenever he passed an open window. His hand flowed along the wall as he walked, steadying his uneasy steps towards his sister's room. As he approached the door he could hear heavy breathing and shuffling and something smashing on, presumably, the floor.

"Yo, Courtney," Zack called, "you all right?"

No answer came.

"Courtney?" Zack called again, his hand resting against the wooden door that led to her bedroom.

Slowly, he pushed the door open and his eyes were assaulted by a barrage of pink everything. The pillows on her bed, the blanket and sheets themselves were pink. This was your average 11-year-old girl's bedroom. Except for…

"Courtney?" Zack was in a state of disbelief. Such things weren't possible. A trick of the light, it must be! The sun's been gone too long! It's messy with me! Zack rationalized as much as he could but still was unable to deny what stood in front of him.

My sister is…a zombie?

A ferocious roar was ripped from her lips. Her hair, normally jet-blacked and strained, was a blur of grease, saliva and color as she charged toward her brother. Her lips appeared chapped, as if there was very little fluid in her body. Her eyes, which were normally hazel, were a pale, milky blue. Her skin held a sallow pallor to it.

"Fuck!" Zack screamed as his sister knocked him to his back. "Courtney, stop!"

Courtney clawed at her brother's arm and snapped her teeth at him. After a few moments of struggling, Zack finally found the strength to push his sister off his body and quickly scrambled to his feet.

"It's Morphin' Time!" Zack shouted. "Mastodon!"

In a flash, Zack had run out the bedroom, down the hall, and out front door. He stopped, frozen in shock. Looking around at the street, people were crawling around, fires had started and cars had been over-turned. His mind flashed to the strange bright light, which was still emanating from downtown Angel Grove.

"Christ," he said, breathy.

Something in the back of his mind told him that he should go investigate. He crept down the street, ducking behind whatever wreckage there was and keeping low in the shadows. Finally, he came to the park where the light was getting stronger and staying hidden was becoming a much harder task.

A sudden explosion to the right caught his attention. A burst of flame made the surrounding area even brighter, giving the illusion of daylight…almost. Quietly, he sneaked into the park and watched a group of staggering people crowd around the blazing inferno that was once a car and gawk in amazement.

His attention faded quickly from the car and back to his journey. He faced towards he light and realized, in horror, where it was coming from. Oh, shit! Mom! His mind raced as his stomach did flip-flops. City Hall…it's coming from City Hall…Zack started running towards the building.

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Rita stood in the middle of a glowing circle. Intricate lines ran through it and glowed as well. Atop the roof was the best view of the sun, which was still blackened.

Rita cackled evilly as her minions drew near. "The time has finally come! Finster! Where is the new monster?"

"Baboo and Squatt have returned from South Africa with it...however, it needs energy!" Finster said.

"Giving it energy won't be a problem now that the sun is blocked!" Rita grinned happily. "And now for my spell!" Rita began chanting in a language that was foreign to this world.

The building began to grow brighter than it had before. The surrounding people would've have had to shield their eyes, had they still been people. Several of the surrounding buildings were knocked over as the Earth began to shake and something, looking quite like an orange ball, began to rise from the ground.

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Eye Guy looked outward on the city. Its interest had been peaked by the intense light coming from one of the buildings marked as "City Hall". In a flash of motion he teleported himself and was standing outside of it. The mob of the not-really-living-but-not-quite-dead paid him no mind.

"I can feel those twats. And…something else. The energy here is outstanding," Eye Guy breathed in deeply, absorbing the energy in the air through its lungs. He somehow knew this was the center of everything. His instincts told him to run to avoid destruction and yet to stay if he wanted supreme power.

A sudden extreme flash of pain flooded his body as a pink blur whipped on by, followed quickly by a red one.

"Fuck you, pink eye!" Kimberly shouted as she shot another arrow.

With the mere power of a thought, Eye Guy sent the arrow spiraling back toward Kimberly. "Balls!" Kimberly shouted as she was tossed on her backside.

"Kimber-" Jason's cry was cut short as he was delivered an uppercut and then slammed into the ground with a sickening thud.

"Time to send you back to Valhalla," Eye Guy shouted as he lifted a piece of rubble into the air, using just the power of his mind. Jason's eyes widened as he watched the piece of concrete floating above him. Oh God, this is it. This is the end. Goodbye Kimberly, Billy, Zack, Rocky and…Asian chick. Fuck you, mom and dad. Unable to move, Jason screamed as it dropped.

A quick flash of light and only pebbles hit him. Kimberly stood proudly, her Blade Blaster clutched firmly in her hands. "Time to send you to Hades!" she shouted as she unleashed a volley of blasts, which, sadly, were only sent back her way at an alarming speed.

"Oh, shit!" Kimberly clamped her eyes shut and braced herself for the pain. None came. After a moment she opened her eyes and saw Billy in front of her, his Power Lance deflecting the blasts sporadically.

"I'm gonna ignore the fact that you made Greek reference to counter his Norse one and help you out," Billy quipped.

"Stop being an ass and help me kill this fuck!" Kimberly shouted.

"On it," Trini shouted after helping Jason to his feet.

The four readied themselves for battle.

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Zack, now de-morphed, ran into City Hall in a panic. "Mom?" he shouted. Mentally face-palming at the thought that there might be a million women here go by 'mom'. "Darlene Taylor?" his voice echoed around the main hall. The hopelessness that inherited it was overwhelming.

A creaking sound flooded the room followed by a flush of shadows. The sound of feet sluggishly moving and the smell of rotten flesh permeated the air. "Shit."

Zack realized an army of zombies was quickly surrounding him. Before any chance of escape was annihilated, he bolted out the door and onto the street only to be confronted by a squadron of Putties.

"Oh, this is some fucked up shit!" Zack clutched his Power Morpher fiercely, "Mastodon!" he cried out and was quickly transformed into the Black Ranger.

Gotta think quick! I'm stuck in this muthafucka place surrounded by these muthafuckin' monsters. Dis is bullshit!

A cry in the distance shook Zack from his thoughts. Is someone alive? He frantically sprinted in that direction knocking over a few Putties and a handful of the Living Dead. Finally, he arrived in the front of City Hall.

"Guys!" he shouted in dismay at the sight of his teammates respectively getting the shit beaten out of them was displayed before his eyes. "Power Axe!" he cried and charged at Eye Guy.

A bright light temporarily blinded the Black Ranger, which was quickly followed be a searing, painful heat burning his chest that knocked Zack backward and forced him to be close friends with the ground. "Shit, this sucks," Zack groaned.

"Stop stating the fucking obvious," Kimberly said as she and the other Rangers drew around him.

"Time to finish you cunts," Eye Guy growled as he began to glow a deep green. He growled and spread his arms out.

The Rangers watched in horror as the seemingly indestructible monster metastasized.

"We need Dinozord power now!" Trini looked at her teammates for reassurance, "right?"

"Right!" Kimberly shouted.

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Rita watched the battle rage in extreme dismay, the orange sphere casting light onto her face. She wanted to see the Power Rangers destroyed, but she wanted to be the one to do it and it currently seemed like it was going to be Eye Guy who would take the glory. Unsettled by this fact, Rita's blood began to boil. "That cunt is getting too strong!" She raised her wand and shot a blast of magical energy at Eye Guy.

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Eye Guy screamed in horror and pain as a few of his eyes popped while others oozed puss and blood.

"This is our chance!" Billy screeched.

"Initiate Power Sword, now!" Trini screamed frantically.

"Get ready!" Kimberly commanded as the Megazord gripped the sword.

"Attack!" Jason shouted and the blade made contact with Eye Guy, knocking him over and cutting off a few more of his eyes.

The gang breathed heavily, a wave of shock moving through them. Disbelief, relief and shock and still an over-hanging sense of dread, these were all the things they felt. The air was heavy.

"Is it dead?" Trini asked meekly.

Billy observed the felled creature for a few moments. "We should hit it again, just to make sure."

"Look!" Trini pointed to the orange ball in the sky. "Something's coming out of it!"

"It's another Megazord!" Billy admonished.

"Is it on our side? Oh, my God, what if it's evil? What if it's here to kill us? What if-"

"Calm down, we don't even know if it's-" Jason was cut off as the Megazord received a heavy attack to it's chest-plate. "Nevermind. Kill it!"

"What the fuck!" Zack slammed his fist onto the control panel. "Do we ever get a fucking break? It's just one battle after another!"

A voice broke over the intercom system, "Rangers! Meet Cyclopsus."

"I know that voice!" Zack said, "it's that monkey with the shit-covered tail!"

"This will be your undoing," Goldar grunted. "And just to show you how powerful it truly is…" A high-powered beam shot out of Cyclopsus's eye.

"Prepare for impact!" Jason screamed. "Shields up!"

"Wait, it's not headed for us!" Kimberly screamed.

The Rangers watched in horror as the beam hit Eye Guy and caused what was left of him to disintegrate.

"There's nothing left!" Kimberly said, her voice shaky.

A stunned silence befell the Rangers. The air seemed thick and greasy to Kimberly, making her dizzy and nauseous. She braced herself against the control panel.

Suddenly, the Megazord shook.

"What the fuck!" Zack swore.

"It's Scorpina!" Billy said after spinning the mechanical contraption around.

"Fire the lasers!" Zack commanded. The attack was ultimately futile as Scorpina just absorbed a majority of them while the rest were sent hurtingly back at the Megazord.

"Shields up!" Jason commanded. The shields energized, and not a moment too soon as another unexpected blast came from above.

"What the fuck is that?" Zack was becoming frantic.

"It's a floating fucking head!" Kimberly said, the cussing was obviously infectious.

"Like Zordon?" Billy asked.

"I will kill you all!" the head said before firing lasers from its eyes.

"Does Zordon hit us?" Jason asked sardonically.

"Only when I'm bad,' Trini quipped. The team stared at her in stunned silence. "What?" she exclaimed, "I'm just trying to lighten the mood and avert our minds from our oncoming deaths."

"We just can't win," Kimberly's voice was a smooth monotone moments before the blasts struck.

"I fucking hate you all," Zack groaned.

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Rita grinned in delight. Fully content with herself that one of her plans was finally coming to fruition. With both Cyclopsus and Lokar on the scene the Rangers were truly finished this time and Scorpina was just the icing on the cake.

"Ah, Lokar, my brother," Rita sighed happily, "it has been too long."

"Yes, my darling little sister," Lokar's voice hummed back at her, "but there is time for talking later, right now we have some Rangers to kill."

"Then let's get to it!" Rita shouted triumphantly, adrenaline building in her blood.

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"Power is running!" Jason screamed.

"Mobility low!" Billy chimed.

"Fuck! We can't take much more of this," Kimberly was fretting now. "One more good blow and we're done."

"Guys," Trini's voice was nervous and small, "I think we need to retreat and figure out a new plan."

The Megazord shook as Cyclopsus once again struck it.

"Shit, guys, it's time to go!" Billy said through gritted teeth.

"It's not responding!" Kimberly was frantic.

"We gotta get out of here, abandon ship!" Trini shouted before prompting the control panel to teleport them to the command center.

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The Rangers stood in the darkened command center, lit only by the light on their helmets, which were strategically placed around the room. Kimberly was on the floor in the fetal position, a deep feeling of despair taking root in her stomach. "What do we do?" her voice was small and frail, child-like in its innocence.

"We need a better plan before those bitches destroy everything," Zack sighed. "Man, this has just not been my day."

"At least we got Eye Guy, huh?" Kimberly smiled weakly.

"There was no "we" in that equation, it was Rita and that…that…thing!" Zack spit out the word in disgust.

"I was just trying to be positive," Kimberly lowered her head in defeat, deeply hurt from his harsh words.

"I have an idea," Trini said, "throughout this whole fight the monsters have just been deflecting and absorbing our attacks, yes?" She looked around for confirmation and to make sure she had the attention of her comrades. "What if…what if we fed them bad energy?"

"How would we find them 'bad energy'?" Zack asked, looking up from her place on the floor.

"If you haven't noticed there is no solar energy, maybe negative energy is what these monsters need," Trini mused.

Zack seemed to snap at this, "don't they thrive on negative energy? You would think it's the sun that makes them weak!" His rage had subsided at this point, oddly enough. "After all, they did block it out so they could come here."

"Exactly," Trini sighed but immediately perked up, "but isn't our Power Sword full of solar energy? If we blast them with the energy in our sword, we can win!"

"It is! But the Zords only have enough power left for…maybe ten minutes," Billy slumped, feeling quite defeated.

"Well, if we use the Power Sword's energy, we should be okay, but we only have enough of that to destroy one monster. We have three fucking monsters!" Zack said.

"We're screwed," Jason's voice was flat. A dead chill fell over the Rangers as they heard their leader say those cold words. All hope seemed to extinguish then. If Jason had given up, why shouldn't the rest of them?

No! I won't give up! Kimberly's mind screamed.

I gotta keep fighting. Zack sighed. His eyes went wide when he thought of something. Something that was just crazy enough to maybe only get two of them killed. "We'll only use the energy on the other Megazord then, for Scorpina, we can just use simple fighting maneuvers. We've beaten her with that before."

Kimberly finally spoke up, "How about this: instead of going for the three monsters, we attack Rita? That's where their power comes from."

"How about," Jason began, his voice beginning to fill with new hope, "how about half the team pilot the Megazord and the other half goes after Rita?"

The team stood silent for a second. They had sworn never to attack, just defend but…desperate times call for desperate measures, Billy thought. "Trini and I will pilot the Zords... we know exactly what to do. The three of you will attack Rita."

"How do we get into City Hall, though? If you didn't notice during the fight, there was like a bazillion putties surrounding it," Kimberly said, feeling a ray of hope pierce her heart.

"We blast our way through those muthafuckas!" Zack shouted, grabbing his Power Axe and cocking it.

"Yeah, something like that," Billy mused. "Or we just use the Megazord to stomp on them."

"Team," Jason said, "I think we're ready for this. Be careful and try not to get deaded. I want everyone back alive." He smiled warmly at his teammates then set his face to a grin. "Now, let's go kick some monster ass!"

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The Rangers materialized right into the thick of things. Immediately Zack and Kimberly began blasting the Putties with their respective weapons while Jason try to secure a path.

"Die, muthafuckas!" Zack screamed while shooting more Putties down.

"Take to the sewers!" Jason commanded as he lifted the sewer grate.

"We need Dinozord Power now!" Trini and Billy called in unison.

In a flash the Megazord was composed and in tank form. "Alright, if we switch modes quickly enough, we'll be able to get this over with faster," Trini's voice oozed confidence.

"Right!" Billy agreed and hastily switched to battle mode.

"Wait…" Trini gritted her teeth.

"For?" Billy asked.

Trini watched Cyclopsus charging up for its attack. "Just wait."

A beam of light shot from Cyclopsus' and traveled at lightning speed at the Megazord. "Now!" Trini said, and pushed in the control sequence to make the Megazord jump out of the way. Landing a few yards away, the Zord turned around to see that the blast of energy had struck Scorpina.

"Oh, God, it got her!" Trini gasped.

A roar was heard over the intercom as Scorpina's body turned to dust. "Wait, he's distracted! Do it now!"

"Initiate Power Sword!" both Rangers called. "Attack!" the sword struck swiftly and violently through Cyclopsus' mid-section.

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"No!" Rita screeched. Raising her wand, she chanted in Latin until a green beam of energy flowed from her wand to the floating head in the sky. "Lokar, finish those cunts off!"

"As you wish, my dear sister," Lokar's voice radiated through the dead fleshy ears of the city's residents.

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Kimberly, from the second floor of City Hall, watched in shock and horror as the floating head effectively took down the Megazord in one hit. "Oh God, no," her voice was small, "let them be all right."

"Kimberly!" Jason shouted, "we need to keep moving!"

"But," Kimberly gasped, "the Megazord collapsed!"

"There's no time now!" Zack said, sadness tinting his voice, "we need to carry on our mission and just hope to God they're all right."

Jason felt the world slipping away from him. A knot was growing in his stomach. He gulped, swallowing his emotions. He had to be strong for the others. Shaking his head, he ran out the front door into the swarm of putties.

"Jason!" Zack shouted.

Kimberly breathed heavily, her emotions spiraling out of control. Her face was hot and helmet was drenched in sweat and tears. She held back a sob while trying to compose her self.

"Kim, let's go," Zack said softly, "we need to stop Rita or else they died-"

"They didn't die!" Kimberly screeched.

"Whatever, we have to keep going!" Zack insisted.

Jason returned inside, slamming the door shut behind him. "It's not use, we're surrounded. The only way to go is up."

"Right," Zack sighed. He glanced at Kimberly and sighed again. Her hands are shaking. "Kim, you okay?"

Ignoring him, Kimberly approached the elevators and pushed the call button. And pushed it again. And then once more. "The powers out, of course they're not working," she let out an aggravated sigh.

"We'll need to use the stairs!" Zack said. A swarm of, what shall be from now referred to as "zombies", swarmed forward and grabbed.

"Zack!" Jason yelled and dove in there, throwing the decaying corpses left and right.

"Don't hurt them, Jason!" Kimberly sobbed, "they're still people….and might be again after the spell is broken!"

"I'm not killing them," Zack grunted as he shoved one more down the stairs, "merely hitting them." A loud crack was heard. "Shit," Zack said realizing he had hit one a little too hard and snapped its neck. Horror set it. I've killed somebody. Oh Lord, help me, I've killed somebody.

"Zack!" Kimberly screeched, "pay attention!"

"But I-"

"Worry about that later!" Jason had made his way to the top floor, "we gotta stop Rita, now!"

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Zack, Kimberly and Jason finally reached the top of the stairs. They could hear the clunking and shuffling of the monsters above them. "Oh God, this is it," Kimberly fretted.

"Yeah," Kimberly sighed, "it…"

"We gotta keep…" Jason stopped. His breath hitching in his throat.

"What?" Kimberly said, scanning the room and finally seeing what made him stop.

"Guys, I'm in the dark here," Zack said, "what's going on."

"Jason's brother…"

"Justin?" Jason walked toward him, his arms outstretched. "Justin, I-"

"Rawr!" Justin launched his small frame at him.

"Jason watch out!" Kimberly shouted.

"Move!" Zack shouted.

In a flash, all three were standing on the fire escape that would lead them up to the roof.

"Take a deep breath," Jason said to his allies, "and if we die here, I just want you to know…I fucking hate you all."

"We love you too, fagboy," Zack laughed.

"Don't speak for me," Kimberly said coldly. "Love you Jase!"

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"Stop right there!" Goldar pointed his sword at the Power Rangers. Baboo, Squatt and Finster stood on either side of him, all three brandishing swords, but neither looking too confident.

"Eat my Power Lead!" Jason shouted and fired multiples round with his Blade Blaster at Goldar.

The gold monkey, being as quick as he was, dodged every shot. "You can't get me with that, Power Fucker!"

With a grunt, Goldar slashed Jason with his sword. Jason groaned as he felt the sword connect with his chest. Thankfully, the Power Suit took the physical damage for him, but he still felt the pain. Kimberly rushed to his side, "Jason, be strong!"

"Ahh," a raspy voice said, "Power Rangers. We finally meet…in person."

"Power Axe!" Zack cried and rushed her. He swung, she ducked, he punched, she blocked. He swung again and his axe met her wand, a barrage of sparks filled the air but neither weapon was phased.

"Eleka Namen!" she shouted and Zack found himself in the air, his friends and the world, seeming as if they were miles below him. He felt himself falling. His stomach doing flips. "Shit!" he hit solid concrete.

"Zack!" Kimberly screamed but could only watch in horror as her friend was thrown onto another rooftop.

"Quiet!" Rita screeched and sent Kimberly flying to the other side of the roof.

"You bitch!" Jason screamed. "Power Sword!" A blast of pure energy knocked the wind out of him and sent him in Zack's shoes, flying off the roof.

Kimberly backed herself into a corner and clutched the Power Bow tight to her bosom. "Rita, you better give up!" her voice was weak and shaking. "'Cause we're the Power Rangers and we will beat you."

""We'? I only see a you," Rita snarled.

"Right, well, I…uh, that is, I can still beat you!" Kimberly tried to sound confident, but even she couldn't lie to herself. Her hands were shaking, her mouth was dry and her stomach muscles were clenching. Nervously, she raised the Power Bow.

"That won't do you any good, my dear Kimmy," Rita hissed.

"How did you know-"

"I know everything about you. I know how much you rely on your pathetic friends, your parents...but look around you. You are all alone. Your friends and parents are gone, they died," Rita smiled wickedly.

Kimberly clutched the bow tightly and aimed at Rita, who was egging her on. Suddenly, she had an idea. She aimed up, up, up..until she was aiming directly at the floating head in the sky.

"What are you doing?" Rita screeched in surprise.

And shot the arrow.

At first, nothing happened. Maybe I missed? Maybe I wasn't the right choice to be the Pink Ranger. But suddenly, cracks began to form and light began to shine through.

"Lokar! No!" Rita screamed. Her rage was slowly building as she watched her brother's demise. "My brother," Rita seethed, "he's dead. And it's your fault!" She pointed her wand and Kimberly and shouted, "Crucio!"

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Sunshine rained down on the Earth's populace, restoring its inhabitants to their normal selves. People poured out onto the streets around the fallen Megazord. Their voices began to rise. Many questions were asked wondering what had happened. Was it safe now?

"Trini! Billy!" Jason and Zack called out for his fallen teammates, the damage received having caused them to become unmorphed.

"We're okay!" Trini stumbled away from the wreckage of the Megazord, seemingly having slipped into the crowd with little effort alongside Billy.

"You two look like shit," Zack mused, "thank God you're alive!"

"No time for small talk," Jason commanded, "we need to get back up top!"

A hush spread through the crowd as screams were head across the city.

"Shit, Kimberly!" Trini gasped.

The four civilian-looking Rangers ran toward City Hall, making it there in seconds. Wreckage of some unknown kind blocked the main entrance. "Fuck!" Zack shouted.

"The sewers!" Trini suggested, but closed the manhole as soon as she opened it. "Putties. Lots of them. Too many to fight."

"Now what?" Jason said, his hope fading again.

"I have no idea," Billy sighed.

"We've come this far, we can't stop now!"

A wave of despair hit them like a ton of bricks. Hopelessness crashed down on them mercilessly. "What do we do?" Jason said, exhaustion invading his voice.

"My wrist communicator just went off," Trini's eyes widened.

"What? Mine didn't," Zack mused but then looked at his. It had clearly been damaged in the fall, as well as Jason's and Billy's.

"Rangers, can you hear me?" a voice said through the communicator attached to Trini's wrist. "I am very proud of you, but there is no time to talk. My sensors indicate that Kimberly is facing Rita by herself. The sunlight weakens Rita's powers, but she still is no match. Put your hands together and pull them apart to send call forth your Power Crystals. Use these to send her your energy."

"Okay," Billy said and put his hands together, "Blue Power Crystal!" He took them apart and found a crystal in his hands. His teammates soon followed suit.

"Now, focus your minds on Kimberly and she will have the energy," Zordon commanded.

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"What the hell is this?" Rita said, not believing her eyes.

Kimberly's Power Suit had someone changed colors. Now, instead of just pink, her suit incorporated all the other Ranger's colors. Blue, Red, Black, Pink and Yellow were all perfectly harmonized. "I feel better now," Kimberly said coolly and fired an arrow at Rita.

Rita looked down, stunned that the arrow had actually penetrated the magic barriers she had put up. Her wand clattered to the ground as pain shot through her body. She clutched her hands over the arrow and pulled it out. "Uh oh," Rita groaned as blood poured from her abdomen. Her hands clutched over the wound but blood poured on through, seeping through her fingers and down her dress.

"Oh, my Empress!" Finster shouted as he ran to her aide.

Kimberly turned to the gaggle of monsters standing behind Rita and shot an arrow at each other them.

"Run away!" Squatt shouted before doing just that.

"Oh, where are you going! Get back!" Baboo's voice gave away his lack of caring at this point as he followed him.

Goldar deflected the arrow with a flick of his sword. "Is that all you go-" Boasting made him an easy target and another arrow found his chest.

"Kill shot," Kimberly mused and fired another arrow.

"Not today!" Rita grunted and used the last of her magical strength to teleport her and her crew back to their moon base.

"Damnit!" Kimberly said. The energy dissipated from her body and her suit returned to its normal pink flush. She looked around her and finally noticed the sun was out. "Oh God, it's been so long!"

She breathed in deeply before jumping off the roof to land in front of her comrades. Her Morpher finally gave out and she, once again, looked like a civilian. "That…was fucking crazy," Kimberly laughed and suddenly fainted.

"White bitch!" Zack shouted and caught her.

"Black friend!" Kimberly laughed hazily as she awoke in his arms.

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The Rangers were scattered around the Command Center, aloof in their composure. Kimberly was perched on a monitor, her body lazily slumped about her. Trini sat on the floor, leaning on Billy who was in turn leaning on her. Zack rested himself against the Viewing Globe's podium while Jason stood at attention in front of Zordon's glass tube.

"You all did very well," the floating head said, "and with time Angel Grove will restore itself and everything will be back to normal."

"And what about Rita?" Kimberly barely muttered.

"I wouldn't doubt it if we saw her again but it might be a while. I sense that she is weakened at this point," Zordon said.

"And our Zords?" Billy's eyes were plastered to the floor.

"Your Zords will need a break as well, but they will be fully functional when you need them once more," Alpha replied.

"Zordon, I tried to morph after we left town hall, you know, to help fight off the putties that were surrounded it and I couldn't do it. What the hell?" Jason's voice was tired but somehow awake.

"Your powers will be inactive until such time that they are needed again. The powers were activated to fight evil, now that evil is gone, if only temporarily, your powers are gone," Zordon sighed. "Rangers...go out, enjoy life. I shall call on you if and when Rita returns."

"Wait! So…that's it?" Jason shouted incredulously. "We spent six months fighting this cunt and now…what? 'So long, get lost'?"

"You do not wish to continue your regular, teenage lives?" Zordon said, his voice full of laughter.

"You call this regular?" Trini scoffed.

"Zordon," Kimberly laughed, "we'll go on living but when the time comes, when the bitch is back, we'll be back too. We'll take her on ourselves. And this time…we'll win!"

"We won this time!" Zack shouted.

"We'll winer!" Kimberly grinned.

"I have faith in all of you," Zordon smiled. "Now get the hell out of here!"

"Ay yi yi! I know you'll win!"

"Billy," Trini said in a low, seductive voice, "it's time to go." She winked at him.

"You know... I never thought I'd ever say this but... I think I might miss being a Power Ranger," Jason smiled.

"Me too," Kimberly grinned back at him. "The energy and the power really makes up for the other crap that comes with it!"

"You mean life?" Jason laughed.

"I guess," Kim chuckled. "Hey! Where the hell did Trini and Billy go?"

"Brown chicken, brown cow," Zack said in a sing-song voice as he winked.

"Er…excuse me?" Kimberly said queasily.

"They be fuckin'," Zack slapped his palm to his face with a sigh.

"Gross!" Kimberly and Jason shouted in unison.

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"Oh, I have such a headache!" Rita groaned. "And a neck ache! And a stomach ache! And an everything ache!"

"Just relax, my Queen," Finster said in a low calming, soothing voice as he dressed her wounds.

"I JUST LOST THE GAME!" Rita shouted as she fell into a deep, healing slumber.